Borussia Dortmund CEO Watzke Critical Of Arab Investment In European Football

Bundesliga Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said that large Middle Eastern investment in European football clubs "is unfair to other well-managed teams and Arab owners need to be more patient," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. The comments come just days after his club marched into the Champions League semifinals "with a last-gasp win over Qatar-owned Malaga." Watzke said, "This (big cash injections) is neither sportsmanlike nor fair and our core business is still sport. We do not need to come with respect and fair play if this is not reflected on all levels." Ligue 1 side Paris St. Germain has spent more than €200M ($262.53M) "in transfers since the Qatari fund QSI bought the club" in June '11. Watzke: "I have the feeling that some sheikhs looked at the flight schedules and then picked a pretty metropolis because that is where the connections to the Gulf region are the best. But that is not how it works" (REUTERS, 4/12).