City Football Group (CFG) took over the majority of the shares of Lommel SK on Monday. The Belgian first divisionist is the ninth club in the portfolio of the owner of Manchester City.
“We are delighted to welcome Lommel SK to the City Football Group and to work with fans and the city to develop the club,” said director Ferran Soriano on CFG’s site.
“Belgium is one of the best football countries in the world, just look at the successes of the national team. This investment is part of our long-term strategy to be present in important football countries, play beautiful football and develop talent.”
CFG was founded in 2014 by the Abu Dhabi United Group of City owner Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan with the aim of becoming the owner of a club on every continent.
Besides Manchester City and Lommel SK, CFG currently (partially) owns the American New York City, the Australian Melbourne City, the Japanese Yokohama F. Marinos, the Chinese Sichuan Jiuniu FC, the Indian Mumbai City FC, the Uruguayan Montevideo City Torque and the Spanish Girona FC.
Lommel SK, which emerged from a merger in 2003, has never played at the highest level in Belgium. In the past season, which has not officially ended, the team of trainer Peter Maes finished sixth in the Proximus League, the second highest level. The current chairman Paul Kerkhofs will also join the new board.
