Can China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, and Sepp Blatter’s nephew land World Cup?
New chief of Wanda Sports Holdings Philippe Blatter gives an insight into the company’s plans for the future of sport on the mainland
No doubt eyeing the off-the-charts guanxi to be had by handing Xi the tournament, the chairman of Dalian Wanda Group began his moves around two years ago, when he set in motion a bid for Infront Sports & Media, a powerful sports marketing firm, with exclusive rights to all of Fifa’s competitions.
Their president and chief executive, Philippe Blatter, has now been installed as CEO of Wanda’s sports division (if the surname sounds familiar, you wouldn’t be the first to suggest that having former Fifa president Sepp as uncle might not have hurt his career).
Wanda Sports Holdings now incorporates Infront, which works with 180 rights holders in 25 sports, the World Triathlon Corporation, which runs the popular Ironman events, and a 20 per cent stake in Spanish football team Atletico Madrid.
Not long after Wang signed the deal with the man who replaced uncle Sepp at Fifa, Gianni Infantino, Philippe Blatter spoke to the South China Morning Post in a rare interview to give insight into Wanda’s plans for sport in China and beyond – including that World Cup ambition.