“The legislative environment is very important,” said Ayman Mohseb, a professor of business administration at the University of Sixth of October.
He said that the old sports law regulated the situation between sports and clubs and the ministry’s supervision of the activity.
However, the new law allows the establishment of companies and the opening of a clear path for clubs to turn into companies.
Investors have the ability to manage, and they are provided liquidity, as it is offered through the new fund for sports, he added.
Mohseb considers the sports companies based in Egypt to be sports marketing companies, saying there are no companies with sports bases that focus on activities, except for one or two companies in Egypt.
He explained that Misr Lel-Makkasa SC began its activity with a strange entrance, which was established with the aim of developing Fayoum governorate as a form of social responsibility, and it proposed to establish sports activity to attract tourists to the region.
He added that the company was established with a capital of EGP 18m in December 2010. An initial public offering (IPO) was a major objective of the company since the establishment.
However, the revolution and the subsequent cessation of sports activity pushed the company to losses, but it succeeded in reducing the losses significantly and surpluses could be achieved soon.
Beside the rise of player contract values, he said the changes that occur must be seen through an investment perspective, as the prices of the contracts were in dollars in 2013 and 2014.
In addition, professional prices in the Arab and Gulf countries must be considered, as they created a movement of funds and assessments of gains and losses, and Egypt has a youth base that can be offered to Europe and other countries.
He said that the establishment of sports academies in Egypt and holding a league among them contributed to the development of Egyptian young players, giving them an opportunity to play for foreign clubs.
Sports academies also help in achieving great profits through opening the door to direct investments in sports.
He also wondered how to transform local sports into an industry that creates jobs and increases state revenue.
Sameh Al-Turgoman, chairperson of Beltone Financial Holding, said that individual sports were dominated by a specific group of countries like Australia, Canada, England, the US, and Russia until the 1980s. However, many countries started to reposition themselves in this field.
Al-Turgoman said that the new Sports Law came to transform sports from a field managed in a non-institutional way by the state, whether through clubs or unions, to an industry that attracts investments.
“Egypt witnessed this week the inauguration of the first sports investment fund managed by Beltone,” Al-Turgoman said. The fund aims at boosting Egyptian sports and its position on the global sports map.
The fund seeks to achieve its main objective through a comprehensive programme planned to reach the highest levels of global sports excellence in coordination with the International Olympic Committee, the respective game federations, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The Egyptian Sports Fund is a 16-year private equity fund under the provisions of the Egyptian Capital Market Law and its executive regulations and the supervision of the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), with a paid-up capital of EGP 5m as a first stage.
