[體育大世界]佩雷斯重金鍍造皇馬帝國

Meet The Biggest Spender In Sports
Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid soccer club, will accept nothing short of the biggest, brashest and best soccer club that money can buy.

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And therein lies the problem for this self-made billionaire. While Real Madrid fans are enjoying the Champions League with new hope and a bevy of top-dollar superstars, critics are accusing Mr. Perez of ruining the sport. European soccer's governing body, UEFA, ratified a plan this month to stop clubs from buying 'success on credit' and amassing huge debts. An even harsher accusation -- of 'financial doping' -- comes from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who Real Madrid also tried to woo.

Even many Spaniards think it's obscene to spend so much money on players at a time when the country's economy is deep in recession, with nearly 1 in 5 people unemployed.

In a rare interview, Mr. Perez justifies his massive outlays for on-field talent. 'We've given people hope and expectation at a time of economic depression,' he said from the Madrid headquarters of Grupo ACS, his construction company. 'The only thing some people have to look forward to is their Real Madrid.'

Perhaps no other man has contributed so much to making soccer the big-money sport it is today. And Real Madrid fans are eager to see Mr. Perez bring the mojo back to this iconic club. A Spanish newspaper pictured him as Moses, the sea parting beneath his feet. Indeed, the club's resurgence would mirror Mr. Perez's own rise.

Unlike much of Spain's business elite, which is dominated by wealthy clans, he worked his way up. The construction company he presides over employs 145,000 people worldwide and got rich building highways, homes and high-speed trains. Currently, he's listed by Forbes as being worth $1.8 billion.

Since his election in June, Mr. Perez spent roughly $433 million to acquire the rights to superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema.

The off-season spending spree has been compared to the one the Yankees embarked on after last season, when they committed $423 million to C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Texeira over the next eight years. However, the Yankees outlay represents all costs. On top of the $433 million Mr. Perez paid for the rights to those players, he also must pay their salaries. Mr. Ronaldo has a six-year contract worth $174 million. The contracts for the other stars are worth tens of millions more.

It wasn't the first time Mr. Perez has stunned the soccer world with astronomical salaries. During his first term as president of Real Madrid, from 2000 to 2006, he assembled a team of so-called galacticos -- or superstars -- including David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Brazil's Ronaldo. This lineup helped turn around the club's economic fortunes. Today it has the largest annual revenues of any soccer club, according to Deloitte & Touche -- some $538.1 million.

Critics say he'll never recoup the cost of the players and accuse him of loading up the club with debt. At the club's general assembly on Saturday, Mr. Perez said its debt load would rise to $480.8 million.

But he isn't throttling back his ambitions: He announced an upgrade of the Bernabeu stadium and the construction of a Disney-style theme park at the club's training grounds in Madrid.

'You invest, just like you do at a big company,' he said, comparing top players to a sort of oversize tunneling machines he buys at his construction company.

皇家馬德里足球俱樂部(Real Madrid)主席弗洛倫蒂諾•佩雷斯(Florentino Perez)只接受金錢能買到的最大、最招搖也是最好的足球俱樂部。

這個白手起家的億萬富翁也面臨着問題。雖然皇馬球迷對冠軍盃充滿新的希望，諸多身價不菲的超級明星也讓他們感到欣喜，但批評人士指責佩雷斯正在毀掉足球運動。歐洲足球管理機構歐洲足聯(UEFA)本月批准了一項計劃，防止俱樂部寅吃卯糧、債臺高築。阿森納隊(Arsenal)主教練溫格(Arsene Wenger)的指責更爲嚴厲，將其稱爲“金融興奮劑”。皇家馬德里也曾向他拋出了橄欖枝。

甚至很多西班牙人也認爲，在該國經濟深陷衰退之際，在球員身上花這麼多錢實在過分。目前，西班牙幾乎每五個人中就有一人失業。

佩雷斯在一次很少見的採訪中爲他在明星球員上的一擲千金進行了辯護。他在其ACS建築公司(Grupo ACS)的馬德里總部說，我們在經濟衰退時期給人民帶來希望和期待，有些人的唯一希望就是皇家馬德里了。

足球如今成爲需要大筆資金投入的運動，也許沒有其他任何人像佩雷斯這樣對足球一擲千金。皇家馬德里的球迷渴望看到佩雷斯令這個標誌性的俱樂部重新獲得魔力。一家西班牙報紙將他畫成摩西，海水在他的腳下分開。事實上，這傢俱樂部的復甦也反映着佩雷斯自身的崛起。

與西班牙的多數精英企業由富有家族控制的情況不同，佩雷斯是自己發跡的。他的建築公司目前在全球共有145,000名員工，通過建設公路、住房和高速列車而發展壯大。目前，他在《福布斯》雜誌(Forbes)上的身價是18億美元。

自6月份當選以來，佩雷斯花費約4.33億美元買下了巨星克里斯蒂亞諾•羅納爾多(Cristiano Ronaldo)、卡卡(Kaka)、阿隆索(Xabi Alonso)和本澤馬(Karim Benzema)。

這種不合時宜的大手筆支出可以同紐約揚基棒球隊（the Yankees）在上賽季結束後花4.23億美元同薩巴西亞(C.C. Sabathia)、伯內特(A.J. Burnett)和泰克謝拉(Mark Texeira)簽約8年的舉措媲美。不過，揚基隊的支出包括了所有費用。佩雷斯除了這4.33億美元之外，他還要支付這些球員的工資。羅納爾多6年的合約價值1.74億美元。其他明星的合同價值也高達數千萬美元。

這已經不是佩雷斯第一次以天價薪酬震動足球界了。在他2000年至2006年擔任皇家馬德里主席的第一個任期內，他組建了一隻所謂的巨星隊，其中包括貝克漢姆(David Beckham)、齊達內(Zinedine Zidane)、菲戈(Luis Figo)和巴西的羅納爾多。這個陣容幫助扭轉了俱樂部的經濟狀況。根據德勤會計師事務所(Deloitte & Touche)的數字，如今它的年收入在所有足球俱樂部名列第一，爲5.381億美元。

批評者說，他永遠不會收回球員的費用，他們還指責佩雷斯讓俱樂部揹負了債務。在俱樂部上週六的大會上，佩雷斯稱，俱樂部的負債將升至4.808億美元。

但他並沒有遏制他的勃勃雄心：他宣佈將改造升級伯納烏球場和該俱樂部在馬德里訓練場旁一處迪斯尼風格主題公園的建築。

他說，投資就像是在大公司做事一樣。他把頂尖選手比作是他的建築公司所購買的特大型隧道掘進機。