Liverpool takeover news as Qatar chief makes key claim amid FSG sale decision

The chief executive of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has admitted it is weighing up making a move into football clubs amid Fenway Sports Group putting Liverpool on the market.

It’s been more than two months since it emerged that FSG were seeking investment in the Reds. The American group have owned the Anfield outfit since 2010.

A host of parties have been linked with a potential purchase of Liverpool. One of those has been a Saudi-Qatari consortium, while possible investors from Dubai, India, Germany and America have been mooted.

On the back of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the country could now look to expand its footprint across the globe. Already, Qatar Sports Investment own Paris Saint-Germain.

QIA, which is the soverign wealth fund of the Gulf nation, could look to do the same with CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud admitting that sport is ‘becoming more commercialised’. It has been suggested that Qatar wants to diverse its economy away from oil.

Al-Mahmoud told Bloomberg: “Football, the clubs and the sport is becoming very commercialised in a way - especially now fans are looking into this as an experience so they would like to and experience and entertain themselves.

“At the same time, digitalisation is becoming very important for this. So the business model of these institutions is becoming very commercialised and very investment friendly. You will not be surprised if we invest in this.

“We have not made our mind yet but this is a very commercially-driven decision that we go through. And, again, sports is becoming a very important theme as well, people are engaged more in a sport and digitalisation is making it more attractive to investors.”