Find out who is the first woman to preside over the Premier League, the richest league in the world

As far as football is concerned, little is known about Alison Brittain, 57. The only information available is that she supports Manchester United.

But her knowledge of or previous involvement with the sport is irrelevant to the role she will hold from early 2023. She will be the first woman to lead the Premier League.

To preside over the institution that organizes the Premier League, the national tournament that moves the most money in world football, it is important to understand finances. Alison was unanimously chosen by the 20 clubs vying for the competition for her resume in the area. She will replace Peter McCormick, who fills the role on an interim basis.

Since 2016, the executive has been CEO of Whitbread, a food, hotel and entertainment chain created in 1742. Before that, she held different positions in the finance market. She worked at Barclays, Santander and Lloyds banks. Alison was responsible for overseeing the sale of the Costa coffee chain to Coca-Cola, a £3.9 billion operation.

“It’s a hugely important sport in the country, it’s loved by so many people around the world and it can have a huge positive impact on communities,” she said in a statement released by the Premier League.

Alison will be responsible for negotiating the next cycle of the sale of broadcasting rights, the main source of revenue for the clubs. In the period that started this year and runs until 2025, the teams will receive, in total, US$ 7.1 billion (R$ 36.1 billion in current values) for international contracts and US$ 6.9 billion (R$ 35 billion .1 billion) by the domestic agreement.

In the last list released by the consultancy Deloitte, which lists the 20 richest clubs on the planet, 10 are English.

In 2019, the new president received the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), a distinction offered by the royal family. She was also on the economic council of the last three UK Conservative governments (Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron).

Political skill can also come in handy because the Premier League has been accused of not having a system robust enough to prevent clubs from being taken over by predatory, non-beneficial owners. The consequence of this is to be branded as an institution that only cares about money.

There is also “sportswashing”, the purchase of teams by totalitarian states with no respect for human rights as a way of improving their institutional image. Complaints that became stronger after the acquisition of Newcastle by a conglomerate linked to the government of Saudi Arabia, last year. But it already existed when Manchester City became, in practice, the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, in 2008.