By Mark Baber
April 17 – Peter Siemsen, president of Brazil’s Fluminense Football Club, said the Brazilian champions are looking to buy a team in the US.
Speaking at a Latin American Business Association (LABA) conference at the Columbia Business School in New York. Peter Siemsen, president of Fluminense, said: “Our goal is to find a soccer team in the US and bring Fluminense’s name, jersey, brand, and excellence in soccer management. It can be very positive since here in the US there is a sense of community around local soccer clubs. We are aiming to acquire an American soccer team playing not in the Major League Soccer (MLS) but in one of the two secondary leagues [NASL or USL].”
Siemsen, who is a partner in a Brazilian IP law firm, said the move would be “part of our international expansion master plan. We will strengthen not only Fluminense’s brand but also our image of excellence in soccer management, and at the same time develop new consumer markets.”
Siemsen said he would be working with Fluminense’s main partner in the US – 2SV Sports, managed by Ricardo Villar – to realise his vision and about eight Brazilian players would make up the core of the team they acquire. According to Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/04/16/peter-siemsen-president-of-fluminense-football-club-we-will-buy-a-soccer-team-in-the-usa/ Villar has said the team would most likely be based on the East Coast.
Fluminense is the current champion of Brazil’s national soccer championship and its fans have a reputation as amongst the wealthiest in Latin America.
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