He Cordoba CF has found its particular strategic “bank” in the race to continue to become big. park bench (park bench, in its literal translation from English) is the technology company, specializing in data analysis and software related to sports, which has become a shareholder of Cordoba Football Union SAD (UFC), today owner of the Cordoba entity.
A surprise with which the Córdoba fans had an aperitif this Saturday, a few weeks before the club’s CEO, Antonio Fernández Monterrubio, announced a capital increase (around 1.7 million) that he had subscribed in its entirety. Infinity (and I was going to repeat this, theoretically in January).
UFC has been the club’s holding company since late 2019. To this day, 100% of its share capital is held by Infinity Sports Venture WL, a Bahraini fund bearing the seal of its Royal House. It took the team to the Second Federation and promoted it to professional football (Segunda) during this period after investing a few 25 million euros (debts, models, structure…).
The club has demonstrated its enormous potential, which makes it attractive to investors focused on the sports world.
The American telecommunications company, which arrives in Spain with Córdoba CF, arrives with a minority position (the exact percentage has not yet been revealed) and the objective of being a strategic “partner” precisely in the technological development and Big Data of the club, but without giving up the objectives that Infinity has set for itself in terms of professionalization of the structure, the facilities (stadium and Sports City), the youth team or the value of the Córdoba CF brand. Regarding grassroots football, the agreement reveals a talent academy who hopes to capture it not only from Cordoba but from many corners.
Looking at Castellón
Castellón, another of the teams that, along with Córdoba CF, has accessed the Hypermotion League this year, has also attracted the interest of a Greek-Canadian businessman, Bob Voulgarisa mathematics expert who uses Artificial Intelligence as a management method. He did it in the NBA (Dallas Mavericks) and now in the Valencian team (search for signings through AI, for example).
One of the first questions that arose in the minds of Cordoba fans (more than 16,000 subscribers this season) is precisely the reason why Córdoba CF and not another second or even first team in this first incursion of Park Bench in Spain. The green and white property extends over almost the entire planet: from the Persian Gulf to the American West Coast. Its universal character cannot be denied.
Monterrubio and the mayor of Cordoba at the signing of the stadium transfer
An authorized spokesperson for the American firm explained to ABC the reasons for this alliance: “Since the entry of the Infinity group five years ago, Córdoba CF has experienced notable growth that has brought the team back to professional football.”
“The club has shown its enormous potentialwhich makes it attractive to investors focused on the world of sports. Once the first objective of professional football was achieved, a partner was sought who would provide the club with other tools and experience in football to propel it to greater heights.
Once the first goal of professional football was achieved, a partner was sought who would provide the club with other tools and experiences in football to propel it to greater heights.
In other words, Park Bench was interested in entering the capital of a club and the parties met (some say that the first ones knocked on the door and in recent months the purchase of shares was closed). The official version continues: “Understanding and goals with Park Bench quickly aligned“.
At the council, but without commanding
Park Bench does not come to order and manage directly. They will continue to take care of it Monterrubio with the watchful eye of Jordanian advisor Nasser Jamil Alown Alssharif Faisal, the best-known face of Infinity in Cordoba.
From now on, the Californian telecom operator will integrate into the board of directors “people from its organization with management experience and technical knowledge in the field of innovation and technology applied to the world of football”, specify the sources consulted without specifying the number.
Currently, the council is headed by Jehad Abdulla Alzain Abdulla (Chairman), Mohamed Hasan All Alnusuf (Vice-Chairman), Nasser Jamil Alown Alssharif Faisal (Advisor) and Ricardo Oliveras as Secretary.
Ciudad Deportiva training ground
Another of the unknowns that this leaves commercial movement What the Archangel offices want to minimize is precisely its importance in relation to Bahrain’s interest in the club. Are you gaining muscle, looking for strategic travel companions or even looking for a new lever in the world of Spanish football?
Only time will tell the exact answer, but sources consulted by ABC indicate that it is a strategic agreement with a trendy sector right now in all the major leagues (each team has increasingly useful and ambitious data analysis tools for all its parameters).
In the note published this Saturday to communicate the purchase of shares, Park Bench’s interest in continuing the roadmap to professionalize a club that still has many shortcomings and that, yes, has just managed to regularize the use it makes of its capital was repeated: L’Archange.
Long term
This roadmap is about making the workforce more competitive (the purchase of shares does not influence a salary cap remains at 6.1 million and one of the lowest in the category), manage to obtain income from the stadium – the eternal daily fight of 1:1 – and in the future finish and improve it (an option kept in a drawer for now until enough income arrives for an expensive enterprise with long planning procedures).
But also, to relentlessly seek a Sports City for this “Talent Academy” and the first team; and, of course, the increase in profits and sustainability, without which there will be no firm commitment.
Park Bench says his arrival is for a “long term”, it is not known what would happen if Córdoba CF, for example, were relegated to the First Federation this season; but, at the moment, it does not look like a short dribble, but rather a long-distance pass. Infinity has made it clear on several occasions that once in professional football, the club must be self-sufficient and, obviously, you will want to get back the money invested so far. Only time and the ball will tell.
