{"id":291601,"date":"2023-10-07T23:28:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T23:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291601"},"modified":"2023-10-07T23:28:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T23:28:45","slug":"test-rugby-may-be-on-the-brink-of-a-middle-eastern-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/test-rugby-may-be-on-the-brink-of-a-middle-eastern-takeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Test rugby may be on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EXCLUSIVE: Is Test rugby on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover? Qatar&#8217;s sovereign wealth fund express an interest in Australia and Saudi Arabian investors approach South Africa over a huge investment deal<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Wallabies and the Springboks have both seen investment offers tabled\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Qatar have approached Australia while Saudi Arabia are keen on South Africa\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Both unions have held talks with CVC, who already own stakes in the Six Nations\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rugby could be on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover after the Wallabies and the Springboks were approached about huge investment deals.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar&#8217;s sovereign wealth fund are understood to have expressed an interest in Australian rugby, while Saudi Arabian investors have approached world champions South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Both unions have held talks with CVC, who already own stakes in the Six Nations, the Premiership and the United Rugby Championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The private equity firm have been keen to grow their multi-million-pound portfolio overseas but no deal has been reached after long-running negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Cash from the oil-rich Middle East has been flooding into football, heavyweight boxers Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk signed a contract to fight in Riyadh and Saudi money has divided golf with the establishment of LIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/07\/21\/76286837-12606011-image-a-107_1696711663921.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rugby may be on the cusp of a takeover after Australia were approached by a Qatari party<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/07\/21\/76286849-12606011-image-a-108_1696711669071.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>South Africa have also fielded interest from Saudi Arabian investors over a huge potential deal<\/p>\n<p>Middle Eastern investors considered buying Formula One in a multi-billion pound deal earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan told <span>Mail Sport<\/span>: &#8216;I won&#8217;t confirm any specific counterparty discussions but we have had interest from the Middle East.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>South Africa Rugby president Mark Alexander declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/07\/21\/76286851-12606011-image-a-109_1696711681357.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has confirmed the interest from the Middle East<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12606011\/Is-Test-rugby-brink-Middle-Eastern-takeover-Qatars-sovereign-wealth-fund-express-Australia-Saudi-Arabian-investors-approach-South-Africa-huge-investment-deal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>EXCLUSIVE: Is Test rugby on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover? Qatar&#8217;s sovereign wealth fund express an interest in Australia and Saudi Arabian investors <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/test-rugby-may-be-on-the-brink-of-a-middle-eastern-takeover\/\" title=\"Test rugby may be on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Test rugby may be on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/test-rugby-may-be-on-the-brink-of-a-middle-eastern-takeover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Test rugby may be on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EXCLUSIVE: Is Test rugby on the brink of a Middle Eastern takeover? 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