Manchester City Win Champions League, Secure Historic Treble
Manchester City, a football club owned by City Football Group in which Abu Dhabi United Group (owned by His Highness Sheikh Mansour, Vice President of the UAE) has an 81% stake, has won an historic 'treble' of major trophies after securing the world-famous Champions League trophy.
The three trophies won are the English Premier League and FA Cup, as well as the aforementioned Champions League, Europe's top trophy,
Investment in sports has become a key dimension in the modern Middle East, a trend started by Sheikh Mansour when he purchased Manchester City in 2008 from Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Since that time, he has turned Manchester City into one of the best teams in the world, building a star squad under the management of legendary Spanish manager Pep Guardiola.
Sheikh Mansour watched the final alongside his brother and the current President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Manchester City won 1-0 against Italian team Inter Milan.
The win is a major boost for Sheikh Mansour and the UAE, which has a high proportion of Manchester City supporters after the buyout in 2008.
As sports are at the forefront of Middle Eastern growth and influence in the world, with Manchester City also sponsored by Etihad Airlines, the ruling powers of the UAE are clearly eager to present a new face of the region to the world.
As well as Manchester City, Sheikh Mansour also owns/part owns with deciding interest Melbourne City FC (Australia), New York City FC (USA), Mumbai City FC (India) amongst others.
Outside of sport, Mansour has a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic after investing US$280 million in the project through Aabar in July 2009.
Aabar also has a 9.1% stake in Daimler after purchasing the stake for $2.7 billion in March 2009, while further owning the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) which partnered with British Sky Broadcasting to establish Sky News Arabia – a new Arabic-language news channel headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
Read more: Emirates and Etihad Sign Interline Expansion Agreement
