Sources: Vincent Tan exploring sale of 20% stake in LAFC

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Vincent Tan, founder and chairman of Malaysia’s Berjaya Corporation, is exploring sale of his almost 20% stake in Major League Soccer's #1 team - Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC).

This follows reduction of his controlling stake in league-leading FK Sarajevo to a minority position. 

According to sources, his intention is to concentrate his financial resources on Belgium’s KV Kortrijk, to which he is a shareholder and perhaps most important, to ensure that his beloved Cardiff City FC returns to the Premier League.

This comes after the team’s thrilling and heartbreaking season that concluded with its first victory in 59 years over Manchester United at historic Old Trafford.

Tan is the co-founding owner of LAFC which, under the inspired leadership of former US national team coach Bob Bradley and CEO Tom Penn, in its maiden 2017-2018 season, made the MLS playoffs.

Now, in its now second season, it boasts the highest number of points in the MLS (nine points above cross-town rival LA Galaxy) and the league’s leading scorer in Carlos Vela. 

Every home game since LAFC’s very first has been sold out in its state-of-the-art downtown Banc of California stadium, adjacent to the world-famous LA Coliseum.

LAFC’s 31 co-owners include actor Will Ferrell, basketball legend Magic Johnson, US women’s national team legend Mia Hamm, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai and life-coach Tony Robbins.

But despite the extraordinary attractiveness of LAFC, the rumoured US$100mil (RM411mil) to US$150mil (RM616mil) that many place on Tan’s near 20% stake in the club (by far the single largest stake of any shareholder) will go far in supporting Cardiff City FC in its critical campaign to regain its rightful place back in the top-division Premier League. 

As they say in Welsh, Cardiff City FC remains Yn Fy Nghalon Am Byth (“In My Heart Forever”) for both Tan and his dedicated Bluebird fans.