Everton takeover: The Vasco da Gama view on 777 Partners
With Farhad Moshiri agreeing to sell Everton to 777 Partners, Chris Beesley finds out about the issues at Vasco da Gama who are owned by the American private investment company
Evertonians should be concerned by 777 Partners completing a takeover of their club after the American company’s running of Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama sparked violent protests from furious fans.
That’s the view of Rio de Janeiro-based journalist Rodrigo Calvozzo, with Farhad Moshiri having agreed to sell his 94.1% shareholding in Everton to 777 Partners, and the transaction expected to be completed before the end of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
On February 22, 2022, the Miami-based firm acquired a 70% stake in Vasco da Gama, one of Brazil’s most-historic clubs who played Everton in a friendly at Goodison Park during their European tour of 1956, valued at approximately $330million. However, their 18-month tenure has not been a happy one for many supporters.
Calvozzo told the ECHO: “Everton fans need to be very worried, since becoming part of 777 group, Vasco has been experiencing confusing times both on and off the pitch.
“The reasons behind this concern and this situation are not exclusive to Vasco, though. The other six clubs managed by the group are also experiencing moments of great uncertainty since the Americans arrived to manage them.
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“Even though they are traditional clubs, teams like Hertha Berlin, Genoa and Standard Liege, were all in similar positions to Vasco when it came to their finances and football fortunes, showing that 777’s priority is not to make a profit from good sporting campaigns. But rather, they are looking for promising brands and taking advantage of this in an organic way, like past administrations that have already demonstrated that this is not the most effective way for their fans.”
Like Belgian-based journalist Frederic Bleus explained in an interview with the ECHO, fans of Standard Liege, another club owned by 777 Partners, protested against them earlier this month with banners including the slogan, 'No money, no ambition', but in South America, passions have boiled over even further.
Calvozzo said: “Several protests have already taken place since the arrival of 777 at Vasco. The main reason is due to the lack of sporting results, which disappointed a large part of the fans who believed in the group’s speech that, upon arriving in Brazil, assuring them it would make similar investments to the richest clubs in the country, such as Flamengo and Palmeiras.
“In March 2022, for example, before a game against Flamengo (Vasco’s main rival), Josh Wander, the majority shareholder of 777, guaranteed that it would be the last match in which the club would be at a financial disadvantage. This made many believe that their difficult days were over.
“We have already seen many protests in the stands with banners and requests for the negotiation to be cancelled, but the most striking demonstrations were at the company’s headquarters with bombs to demand that they leave and another more violent one after a defeat at the São Januário stadium, which led to the ground being closed.”
Given that Vasco achieved promotion back to Brazil’s Serie A under 777 last November, less than nine months after the takeover, are they not actually one of the much-maligned group’s relative success stories, though?
Calvozzo doesn’t think so and explained: “In fact, there has been no change to the club’s recent history. Vasco are one of the most important clubs in Brazil, having already been Brazilian champions (four times) and winning the Copa Libertadores (South American equivalent of the Champions League, in 1998). Great players such as Romario, Juninho, Edmundo and Roberto Dinamite, among others, played there.
“However, after the year 2000 the club entered into a serious internal political crisis and against large communication companies, such as TV Globo and since then the club has lost sponsors and a lot of money. In the 21st century, Vasco have been relegated four times but they always managed to return, even without much effort, as it has many fans and is stronger than its rivals from Serie B.
“The entry of 777 did not change the scenario and actually made the situation worse as they experienced the team’s most complicated return to Serie A since this period began. In 2023, nothing has changed and the team is continuing with a very bad season and is close to another relegation, if the team does not change.
“In June, coach Mauricio Barbieri was fired and Argentine Ramon Diaz arrived at the club a month later. However, during this period, the club was left without any fixed command.”
Although multi-club groups are a controversial concept within the global game, Calvozzo doesn’t think Vasco fans were generally against the idea in theory but feel they have been sold a dream that is very different from the reality of the situation. He said: “When the arrival of 777 at Vasco was announced, many believed that there would be a large investment and that the club’s difficult situation would change, therefore, the fans supported the Americans’ involvement.
“However, with the terrible decisons made and the low investment, the protests began. Vasco is a club with origins in the Portuguese immigrant community and with fans who preserve their traditions, which is why they find it difficult to understand that the company sees Vasco as an investment and passion takes a backseat.
“However, if the results appeared there would be no problem, but as this did not happen, many demand that the old model returns. An example of this was when they discovered that the 777 representative at the club, Luiz Mello, had already been a member of Flamengo in the past, his resignation was demanded and this happened in July 2023.”
Calvozzo added: “The idea of multi-club groups is still very new in the country, so only smaller clubs or those that were experiencing moments of crisis joined the model. Among the big clubs in Brazil we can mention Vasco (777); Cruzeiro (which was bought by Ronaldo) and Botafogo (which today belongs to the American John Textor, who is also the majority shareholder at Crystal Palace, Olympique Lyonnais and Standard Liege’s domestic rivals RWD Molenbeek).
“All of these clubs were in Serie B in 2022 and are currently experiencing completely different periods. Vasco is the worst example, as its investors did not make the promised financial contribution and proved to be very poorly organised in its planning.
“Consequently, the team is among the last placed in Serie A (18th out of 20 clubs after 21 games), experiencing crises and protests from the fans. Cruzeiro needed to sell several important players in 2022, but has always had a new investment mentality, bringing young and little-known players.
“This generated distrust among the fans, but there was no shock to the system like at Vasco. Today the team is in the middle of the table, they changed coaches, but they are following the path of what is expected of their team.
“Botafogo (under Textor) is the best example. They invested heavily in the off-the-field structure, set up an excellent scouting team and signed cheap but high-quality players, which is why they are currently top of the table and enjoying their best spell since 1995, when they last won Serie A.”