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Bristol Rovers: Owner Al Qadi sells majority stake to Kuwaiti businessman
Image source, Rex Features
Bristol Rovers owner Wael al Qadi has sold his majority stake in the club to Kuwaiti businessman Hussain AlSaeed.
AlSaeed has purchased a 55% share of Dwane Sports, the holding company for the club, with Al Qadi keeping 40.5%.
Jordanian Al Qadi bought the League One club in 2016 and took full control in 2020. He will remain as club president with AlSaeed joining as chairman.
Co-owner Samer Al Qadi has a 4.5% stake and the English Football League has already approved the agreement.
"I have been a huge football fan for many years, and it has always been my ambition to own a stake in a club. BRFC is the one club that I most desired to be a part of, due to its great fanbase and future potential,"
"From this day on, I assure the fans that we will be working tirelessly on the sustainability and growth of the football club.
"Rovers are a club with huge potential that is still untapped, and it is our duty to make sure that we do everything possible to improve the current state."
As part of the deal, all debt owed to Dwane Sports had been capitalised, Rovers said in a statement. "This means that apart from our ordinary trade creditors the club is substantively debt free," it added.
"Over the past few months as discussions have developed it has been clear to me that Hussain and Abdullatif not only have a consistent vision with ours for the club but they also have the expertise and resource to help move us forward quicker.
South Stand stadium works delayed
Elsewhere, the club said that their planned redevelopment of the South Stand at their Memorial Ground Stadium will now not be ready for the start of the new season as first hoped.
The work is to increase the number of seats in the stand to 3,425, however, the delay means the club will start the new campaign with a reduced capacity. They host Barnsley in their first home game on 12 August.
they had been in discussions with the EFL and Barnsley but a reversal of the fixture was not possible.
Season ticket holders in the affected area are to be contacted while the number of away tickets has been limited.
"Moving forward we will continue to review the situation on a match-by-match basis and update supporters as early as possible as to the plans for each fixture," the statement said.
The stand has proved controversial with some local residents, who complained that work had begun before plans were approved.
"The club is continuing to work with local residents and the local planning authority regarding this application. Following some delays, the planning application has been registered by the council and is currently being assessed," Rovers' statement continued.