Dubai group to buy Spanish club

The Royal Emirates Group is gearing up to announce its purchase of a Spanish football club on Thursday, the Dubai company said without revealing which team it was buying, reported Reuters.

"We confirm that the company will buy a Spanish team," Suleiman al Butti, project manager of Royal Emirates Group, told the agency on Tuesday.

The group, which is run by Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, said they were considering naming the club "Team Dubai" but it could not confirm whether this would be its official name.

"It is to be announced that His Highness Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum and Royal Emirates Group will become the owner of one of the top 'first league' football teams of La Liga Spain," the statement said.

According to a report on arabianbusiness.com, the cash-strapped Real Zaragoza, “who are flirting with relegation in 18th place in the La Liga standings with six games left”, is the team in question.

A Zaragoza spokesman said he was not going to make any immediate comment.

If the deal goes through, it will be the third team to be bought by a non-Spanish group this past year following the sale of Malaga to a Qatari royal and the sale of Racing Santander which was bought by an Indian businessperson.

Thursday’s ceremony will be attended by Dubai's minister of culture, the Spanish ambassador and "many other corporate icons and members of the ruling family of Dubai" the company said.

Zaragoza, who lost 1-0 at Villarreal on Monday suspended their training until Thursday, reported the club’s website.

(Muna Khan of Al Arabiya can be reached at [e-mail])