Quality Sports Investments


Quality Sports Investments is a chain of companies dedicated to football investments. Through Quality Football Ireland, the company held footballer's contract rights. QSI also invited investors to buy their financial products: the economic rights in packs.
It was reported that Jorge Mendes and Peter Kenyon were behind the fund. It was also rumoured that FIFA was investigating the fund as third party ownership is actually not allowed and a possible conflict of interests of the agent Mendes and CAA.
Creative Artists Agency, the manager of the investment fund, had set up Quality Sports Investments LP to Quality Sports V Investments LP, as well as Quality Sports Investments Fund Limited, Quality Sports Investments Fund GP Limited, Quality Sports Jersey GP Limited in Jersey. In Ireland, there were three companies, namely Quality Football Ireland Limited, Quality Football Ireland III Limited and Quality Football IV Ireland Limited.

Quality Football Ireland

Quality Football Ireland Designated Activity Company formerly known as Quality Football Ireland Limited is a Republic of Ireland incorporated company.
As of 31 December 2011, QFIL was 70% owned by CAA Sports International LLC, CAA director O'Connor and Michael Levine held 15% each. QFIL borrowed money from Quality Sports Investments LP as asset-backed security and later Quality Sports II Investments LP to purchase the economic rights of the transfer fee receivables of the footballers, made the company an intermediate holding company with €100 net equity, or a shell company. The companies were associated with Quality Sports Jersey GP Limited and Quality Sports II Jersey GP Limited. QSI GP and QSI II GP were 50% owned by CAA.
Unlike Portuguese football investment funds, the EPRAs was not treated as an intangible asset, and so there is no amortization nor write-down as a case of tangible asset. The fund even inserted clause in the EPRA, such that even if the player was released as a free agent, the fund would received the original purchase price paid to the club, plus 10% interest p.a.. Beşiktaş used the word "factoring" to describe the company.
The company at first bought 5 players from 2 clubs in 2010, for €7.25 million, which was revealed later by Sporting and Beşiktaş's financial filing, and documents leaked by Football Leaks.
In 2011, the fund was restructured, the old EPRAs were treated as one asset valued €7.25 million and new loan from QSI II were treated as another, for €12.9 million. It was later revealed that it consisted of the 50% economic rights of Elias for a €3.85 million, 40% economic rights of Saúl Ñíguez for €1.5 million and €7.55 million for 4 other players.
Elias was bought by the fund on 15 September 2011. Sporting bought 100% rights from Atlético Madrid for €8.85 million 2 weeks ago, making the transaction to QSI uneconomical as the price was less than half of the purchase value. However, as FIFA set up a monitoring system for the flow of the transfer fees, ensuring that the transfer fee must to paid between clubs, the transaction may involved third parties ownership. Atlético Madrid may "buy" the rights from a third party owner, sell "100% rights" to Sporting, and as part of the deal Sporting had to then on-sell the rights entitled to the third parties. After the deal, Sporting effectively bought Elias 50% rights for €5 million. Elias already fully owned by the third parties and the player himself before leaving Brazil, and Corinthians only owned the rights to receive 20% of the player's additional value.
On 3 August 2011, Beşiktaş announced that the club was negotiating with QFIL for selling Necip Uysal, Atınç Nukan and Muhammed Demirci. On 27 August, Beşiktaş exposed the players involved in the negotiation was Hugo Almeida, which the club was trying to buy him back, and the three Turkish players were the bargaining-chip. In October and November Beşiktaş announced that there was no progress but the negotiation did not involve Ricardo Quaresma nor Mustafa Pektemek, as both players were 100% owned by the Turkish club.
DatePlayersClubsPercentageCost Departed teamDeparted dateRevenue Footnotes
201050%€1.7MMetalist 25 January 2012€1.7M + bonus €200,000 + interests €331,155Quality Sports Investments LP
201045%€2MFree agentJune 2014€2M + interestQuality Sports Investments LP
2010Sporting 50%€1MSporting February 2012€1MQuality Sports Investments LP
2010Sporting 50%€1MSporting 31 August 2016€1MQuality Sports Investments LP
2010A playerSporting €1.55MQuality Sports Investments LP
19 January 201150%€3.85MCorinthians 7 April 2014Quality Sports II Investments LP
19 January 2011Atlético Madrid 40%€1.5MQuality Sports II Investments LP
19 January 20113 Players€5.55MQuality Sports II Investments LP
19 January 2011A Player€2M19 August 2013€2MQuality Sports II Investments LP
24 January 2011A player€2.5M27 July 2011€4.68M + bonus €210,000Quality Sports Investments LP
February 2012Sporting 50%€1MSporting 31 August 2016€1MQuality Sports Investments LP

Burnaby Investments

On 15 September 2011, Sporting announced that they had sold 50% economic rights of Ricky van Wolfswinkel to Quality Football Ireland III Limited for €2,537,500 alleged to equal to half of the price Sporting purchased ; however, Sporting actually announced the transfer fee they paid was €5.4 million in June 2011.
S.C. Braga revealed in its financial report that the signing of Juan Carlos for €2.5 million was financed by the fund, in which the fund acquired 90% contract rights for €2.5 million. Braga de facto allowed the fund to register the player as a "player" of Braga, as the non-dividable registration rights of a player must be held by a football club. Moreover, FIFA had set up a subsidiary, "FIFA Transfer Matching System gmbh", to track all the international transfers, which made the transfer fee impossible to pay to the fund directly; Braga was the entity to receive the transfer fee then re-distributed to the fund. In exchange, Braga received 10% future transfer fee. Juan Carlos subsequently left for Real Zaragoza.
The Burnaby fund earned revenue of €4.75 million after Sporting sold Wolfswinkel in March 2013.
In October 2012, it renamed to Burnaby Investments Ireland Limited from Quality Football Ireland III Limited. In its 2011 audit report, the company disclosed that it signed four assets from two clubs with a total purchase of €9,787,500, with a €3,100,000 asset was bought back on 31 August 2011 for €2,895,000. If the information from Sporting and Braga aforementioned were true, the third fund acquired a fraction of the players right for €3.1 million probably from Sporting, 50% van Wolfswinkel for €2,537,500, a player probably from Sporting for €1,650,000, and Juan Carlos from Braga for €2.5 million.
The Irish company is financed by Quality Sports III Investments LP and Quality Sports III Jersey GP Limited, and both entities were renamed to Burnaby Investments LP and Burnaby GP Limited respectively in November 2012.
In 2014 The Guardian reported that Chelsea FC plc was the owner of Burnaby Investments LP, as shown in its annual report from 2011 to 2012 to 2013–14. During 2014–15 season Chelsea sold the shares in Burnaby Investments LP to Cetus Investments Limited for €9,855,769, which was a company also owned by Roman Abramovich, but independent from Chelsea.
In 2017 annual return of Burnaby GP Limited, the manager of the investment fund was owned by Gestifute and a US company "Venture Sports Limited".
DatePlayersClubsPercentageCost Departed teamDeparted dateRevenue Footnotes
11 July 2011Ricky van WolfswinkelSporting 50%€2,537,500Norwich 22 March 2013€4.75 millionBurnaby Investments LP
2011Juan CarlosBraga 90%€2.5M-Burnaby Investments LP
2011A player€1.65M-Burnaby Investments LP
2011 A player€3.1M2014Burnaby Investments LP

Quality Sports IV Investments

Quality Football Fund Ireland Limited had acquired the economics rights of five players from two clubs on 20 October 2011 for €10 million and 1 thousand, as well as a lump sum option of €10 million to another club to purchase. On 11 November 2011, the fund acquired one additional player from one additional club for €318,750, matching the announcement of Sporting on selling Stijn Schaars.
The fund was renamed to Quality Football Ireland IV Limited in 2012 and later Quality Football Ireland IV Designated Activity Company in 2016.
In February 2012, the fund acquired three more players' economic rights for a total of €3,000,000 from two clubs, matching the announcement of Sporting for João Mário and Cristian Ponde. Thus, the fund had a player asset totaling €13.3 million as of February 2012 financed by Quality Sports IV Investments LP of Jersey Island.
A leaked document also shown Atlético Madrid sold 30% economic rights of Koke to the fourth fund on 18 January 2013, for €3 million, as part of the deal to cancel a €5 million debt of the club to the fund related to Eduardo Salvio for €5 million on 31 July 2012.
DatePlayersClubsPercentagePriceDeparted TeamDeparted DatePriceFootnotes
20 October 2011Eduardo SalvioAtlético Madrid€5 millionBenfica 31 July 2012€5 million
20 October 20114 playersAtlético Madrid and/or 1 other club€5 million
11 November 2011Stijn SchaarsSporting37.5%€318,750PSV 13 July 2013undisclosed
3 February 2012A playerA club €2.5 million
17 February 2012João MárioSporting25%€400,000Internazionale 27 August 2016
17 February 2012Cristian PondeSporting25%€100,000in current squad
18 January 2013KokeAtlético Madrid30%€3 millionin current squad
18 January 2013A playerAtlético Madrid30%€2 million

Other Sporting deals

The club also sold Fabian Rinaudo and Diego Rubio at the start of 2011–12 season. However, not specifying which fund.

V Fund

Quality Sports V Investments LP and Quality Sports V Jersey GP Limited were established in mid-2012, however the entity that held the contract rights which incorporated in low tax countries such as Ireland were still unknown.