Pique, a three-time champion league winner and World Cup winner, retired from football last season
Dates: 16-29 January Venue: Melbourne Park |
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After five years of negotiations, the International Tennis Federation has decided to end its partnership with Gerard Pique, ex-footballer.
The ITF and Kosmos announced a 25-year, $3bn (£2.25bn) partnership in 2018 and have since made widespread reforms.
These changes included changing the format for the 123-year old tournament to an end of season ‘World Cup-style event’, which was controversial among players.
The ITF claims that it has “ensured that financial contingencies are in effect”.
The deal was also expected to provide $25m more per year for global tennis development.
The changes have had mixed success with some low attendances, and big-name players remaining away.
Kosmos, a former Spain, Barcelona and Manchester United footballer Pique, are known to have lost tens or millions of dollars on the 2019 event.
Spain was the first country to win the Finals event in Madrid in 2019, ending the tradition with home and away ties.
The 2020 edition was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It returned in 2021 in three cities: Madrid, Turin, and Innsbruck.
In 2022, further changes were made when teams participated in a group stage in September. The top eight qualified to the Finals.
The Finals were supposed to be held at Abu Dhabi, which would have recouped substantial funds for Kosmos. But it was instead held at Malaga.
Analysis – What next for Kosmos or the Davis Cup?
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent
The end was swift. Kosmos realized what was so obvious when the $3bn deal was made, and tried to renegotiate.
The terms were not approved by the ITF board. It will now have to seek new commercial partnerships in order to finance the Davis Cup as well as the global development and growth of the sport.
Kosmos are understood to have paid a fee of $32m (£26.19m) to the ITF in 2022. The lucrative media deals expected have not materialised and losses – exacerbated due to Covid and an economic downturn- will have run into the millions.
Gerard Pique’s involvement in tennis is over, but Kosmos Management will continue to be involved in the sport. Just this week, they added Elina Svitolina and Andrey Rublev to their roster of players that also includes Dominic Thiem.
What does this mean for the future of the Davis Cup? People who were excited by the news and expecting a change in format are likely to be disappointed, at least in the short-term.
The ITF is generally happy with a competition that starts in February with a qualifying round, then gives four cities the opportunity to host the group stage in September. Finally, the competition ends with the knockout rounds of November.
There are also contracts that will not be affected by the split. For example, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has just signed a five-year agreement to host one of two group stages of the Finals.
Kosmos’ Davis Cup stewardship has been highly emotive and very divisive. They are history, but that does not mean old arguments will disappear.