By Elvira Pollina and Elisa Anzolin

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s top flight Serie A soccer league should follow the example of Spain’s LaLiga and open up to private equity investors to mend clubs’ finances ravaged by the pandemic, the new U.S. owner of Serie A club Genoa CFC has said.

In a deal that was intended to strengthen clubs and provide funds for new infrastructure, top soccer league clubs in Spain backed CVC, a private equity firm.

Negotiations between Serie A in Italy and Advent to acquire a minority stake in a new company that will house the media rights for the league have been arduous.

The CVC-LaLiga agreement may be the most effective way, but it might not. Juan Arciniegas from 777 Partners said it was worth thinking about.

It is important to consider all options in order to increase the capitalisation of both the leagues and clubs.

The Miami-based investment company, which owns a stake at Spain’s Sevilla FC FC, was the sixth American owner of a SerieA side. It purchased Genoa, Italy’s oldest football club, for 150 million euros ($128.05million).

We recognize that these are tough times. However, difficult times can create opportunities. Capital is needed to make those opportunities. Arciniegas stated that he believes the club could benefit from both capital and expert support.

The 777 Partners fund aims at turning around Genoa which had a deficit of 33 M euros for 2020. This will be done by injecting capital as well as restructuring the debt that Genoa has accumulated due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

“The club has more credit than we want to have over the medium-term. He stated that we want to reduce our debt as part of the project.

A major problem facing Serie A clubs, besides the lack of ownership of their stadiums that can deprive them of income, is red tape. Also, ambitious plans for building new arenas may get stifled by bureaucratic hurdles.

Genoa shares their stadium, which is owned jointly by the municipality and rivals Sampdoria.

Arciniegas indicated that, in spite of all the obstacles, the investment into the stadium was a crucial part of a strategy for increasing the club’s revenue base. It would allow them to expand services for supporters attending matches as well for corporate partners.

We are exploring all options to make a direct investment in the stadium. This could be renovation, expansion or the creation of new space.

($1 = 1.1714 euros)