Rights agency Kentaro hit with law suit over Brazilian national team profits

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May 8 – Sports rights agency Kentaro, is being sued by football investment fund Global Eleven, over failing to return profits from matches played by world champions Brazil.

“The company is currently in litigation with Kentaro for breach of contract and for non-payment of amounts due and ongoing under those contracts,” Global Eleven’s administrator Nick Hoskins, a lawyer with Bermuda-based Wakefield Quin, said in an e-mailed statement reported by Bloomberg.

The Global Eleven fund raised $20 million to invest in marketing rights for exhibition games played by Brazil that Kentaro held until last year before the contract moved to Pitch. Global Eleven’s suit against Swiss-based Kentaro, seeks about $8 million in damages.

The bulk of the claim covers Brazil’s exhibition games, which Kentaro began promoting in 2006. But the suit also concerns investment in third party transfer rights of players from South America and loan fees the fund allegedly should have been paid after players were placed with European teams.

Global Eleven was set up by Indoo Sella Di Monteluce, an Italian aristocrat, and Kentaro chief executive officer Philip Huber, with additional investment from Iveagh Ltd, the wealth fund of the Guinness brewing family, hired as investment manager in return for 2% of the fund’s net asset value.

Further investment in the fund came from Abu Dhabi-based Baniyas Sports Club and Qatar-based conglomerate Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad & Sons Group Holdings.

Kentaro, which sells broadcast rights to international football matches, represents more than 20 European federations, though has struggled to pay rightsholders on time. With UEFA centralisation of rights to World Cup and UEFA Championship qualification matches into newly formed CAAEleven, Kentaro has lost many of its premium rights.

In March, Kentaro lost its contract to broadcast a World Cup qualifier between England and Montenegro days before the game over a dispute over payments.

According to Global Eleven documents, reports Bloomberg, the fund has invested in nine players and has an agreement with Africa Soccer Developments, a youth academy in Cape Town, for a 50% share of any profits from player sales.

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