Ronaldinho joins the bid for Monaco
The disappearance of AS Monaco from the upper echelons of European basketball has been one of the big issues of the summer, to the point that the Monegasque club will stop competing in this edition of the Euroleague and with its presence in the French first division still in doubt.
Although the club was in the process of changing hands in recent hours, specifically to those of the investment group Helen Holdings led by former NBA player and All-Star, Jamal Mashburn, a last-minute script twist could completely alter the plans.
As reported by L’Équipe, Ronaldinho, with the backing of the Andorran investment fund Clayton Sport, has emerged as a potential candidate to take the reins of the Monegasque entity. In fact, this Monday night the group formed by the former Barça and Clayton Sport star sent a letter of intent to Monaco’s executive director, Oleksiy Yefimov, to try to take over the Principality club.
The proposal led by the Brazilian comes at a key moment to determine the future of Monaco in the Betclic Elite, since to date, the Mashburn group was running as the only candidate to try to reverse the club’s situation, and they are already working against the clock to obtain the financial support necessary to compete in the French top division and avoid its exclusion from the competition. In this case, the ‘Roca Team’ already plans to take its CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sports Committee) case, and they have until August 18 to submit their application.
According to information from L’Équipe, the Andorran investment fund would be willing to settle the debt of 2.5 million euros contracted with the Euroleague and provide a bank guarantee of 5 million euros, which is the amount required by the DNCCG (French football’s financial regulatory body).
Likewise, within Ronaldinho’s proposal together with Clayton Sport, the possibility of agreeing on a three- to five-year contract is being considered, with an approximate investment of 10 million euros per year and, in addition, with a supposedly important role for the Brazilian in the project.
