Bad news, they say, usually comes all at once. The former Spanish footballer seems to have been plunged into a losing streak Gerard Pique: Less than 24 hours away, his ex-wife Shakira dedicated a very hard song to him for their breakup and this Thursday afternoon International Tennis Federation (ITF) broke the contract that had bound it since 2018 with the Kosmos company – founded by the former defender – for the management of the Davis Cup.
“ITF confirms its Davis Cup deal with Kosmos Tennis ends in its fifth year”wrote the Federation in a statement released on Thursday afternoon.
Behind the project was the Kosmos investment group, whose president and founder is Piqué Revolution of the mythical tournament, proposing since 2019 a new format that includes a final stage, seeking to achieve greater impact with the most important competition for countries in this sport.
“The ITF has ensured that financial contingencies are covered and, as guardians of the competition, we will organize the 2023 edition’s qualifiers and finals as planned, with the eight-team finals taking place in Malaga, Spain, at November”accurate.
The problem? Money. The Kosmos company had promised to invest 3,000 million dollars in 25 yearsbut the pandemic and the trend of investments in sponsorships and television made it impossible to meet expectations. The ITF has refused to renegotiate the commissions which had been agreed and which was around 40 million euros per edition.
The ITF has agreed to renegotiate the money to be raised during the pandemic, so that the $40.3 million received in 2019 is reduced to just $10.2 million in 2020, out of the $19.7 million paid in 2021.
In 2022, the annual price envisaged in the contract signed at the time was recovered. According to the Spanish medium ‘2playbook.it’, this year 32 million euros were paid, which in 2023 amounted to 36 million and in 2024 to 44 million euros.
The ‘revolution’ proposed by Kosmos had some detractors, because it had radically eliminated the formula of different duels with one team at home and another away, with matches of the best of five sets spread over a weekend. Davis Cup, with its early season Qualifiers and Finals in one venue, failed to connect with this new crowd it was chasing.
“I’ve always struggled against this new Davis Cup format, an institution in our sport. It’s a big win for tennis”wrote the president of the French tennis federation, Gilles Moreton.
This format, however, will be maintained in 2023, although the ITF has not yet commented on its plans for the future.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.