NASL announces expansion club Miami FC with Paolo Maldini among owners- Longtime AC Milan star among co-owners of new NASL club Miami FC
- Maldini teaming with TV rights entrepreneur Ricardo Silva in venture
- Miami FC beats Beckham’s long-planned MLS club in Miami to market
Turns out the global superstar to bring professional soccer to Miami wasn’t David Beckham after all. Paolo Maldini, longtime AC Milan defender and Italy captain, is teaming with TV rights magnate Riccardo Silva to launch Miami FC, a new club that will play in the second-tier North American Soccer League starting in 2016.
The team will play “in one of the existing world-class stadiums of Miami”, according to a release issued Wednesday, though no further details were offered.
“I strongly believe in the growth of soccer in the USA, and this is the perfect project to develop a top-class soccer team in one of the most important cities in the world,” Maldini said in a statement. “We believe that the fast-growing NASL will be the perfect platform to develop a successful team and a valuable business. Miami has been my second home for 15 years, so I look forward to spending more and more time here as co-owner of Miami FC, giving my enthusiastic contribution for its success.”
Beckham’s long-simmering designs on bringing a Major League Soccer team to Miami have remained largely on hold since he exercised a contract option to purchase an MLS club in February 2014. The biggest obstacle has been settling on a downtown site for a soccer-specific stadium. As they waited Maldini’s group beat them to market, further solidifying the six-year-old NASL’s position as America’s second division.
Silva, president of the MP & Silva agency which manages international sports TV rights for a wide range of events and competitions, lives in Miami. Maldini retired in 2009 after a panoramic 25-year career AC Milan that included seven league titles and five Champions League trophies. He will focus on selecting the team and technical staff, while Silva will focus on business and distribution.
“Riccardo Silva is a world leader in soccer media, and he has decided, along with his partners, that Miami and the NASL are part of an important future for the game globally,” NASL commissioner Bill Peterson said Wednesday. “Miami finally has an ownership group with a global vision and the experience to build a proper club that all of Miami will be proud to support. This group is very focused on fielding a competitive team and being a partner to the entire Miami community.”
Miami FC will be the NASL’s fourth club in Florida, where the league also has franchises in Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale, with whom former Brazil international Ronaldo has an ownership stake.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/20/nasl-announces-expansion-club-miami-fc-with-paolo-maldini-among-owners
