Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer buys franchise cricket team

The Glazer family also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer has purchased a team in the new United Arab Emirates Twenty20 cricket league.

Glazer - who has been co-chairman of United since 2005 - also owns NFL Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and bought the new franchise team through his private equity firm, Lancer Capital. The inaugural UAE T20 league will take place in February and March next year and will feature six teams and 34 matches. The 61-year-old expressed his excitement at his purchase, stating that the tournament promises to be a 'world class event'. He said: "I am very excited to be a part of UAE T20 at its formation.

"UAE T20 promises to be a world class event that will be transformative to the growth of cricket in the Emirates."

https://twitter.com/RobHarris/status/1466011387096875011 Khalid Al Zarooni, UAE T20 League Chairman and Vice Chairman Emirates Cricket Board, said: "I am very excited to welcome Mr. Glazer to the UAE T20 Family. "To have a partner who has invested into sports properties with a long-term perspective is a testament to the strength of the UAE T20 League’s business model and its value proposition to fans and its stakeholders, and an ode to the UAE as the destination of choice for global sports events.”

The Glazer family failed with an attempt to buy one of the new franchises in the Indian Premier League, with the popular competition set to increase from eight to 10 teams from 2022.

As a result of the Covid-19 situation in India, the UAE and Oman hosted the recent Men's T20 World Cup after a decision was made to move the tournament's location. 

The UAE also hosted the second half of the 2021 IPL after the event was postponed mid tournament earlier in the year due to a rise in Covid-19 cases among players in India.

Related links:

• 10 more people arrested in connection to Man Utd Glazer protest in May
• Glazer family to sell 9.5 million more shares in Man Utd
• Man Utd fans hate the Glazers, but how do they feel in Tampa Bay?