Wael al-Qadi

Wael Al-Qadi
وائل القاضي
Born	Wael Al-Qadi (1969-11-25) 25 November 1969 (age 55) Jordan
Citizenship	Jordanian
Education	Westminster School, Westminster, London
Alma mater	Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation	football executive
Known for	President of Bristol Rovers
Relatives	Al-Qadi family

Wael Abdulkader Al-Qadi (born 25 November 1969 in Jordan)[1] is a Jordanian football executive, best known as the current club president of English club Bristol Rovers[2] and a member of the Al-Qadi family.

Biography

Early life and education

A member of the Al-Qadi family, who founded the Arab Jordan Investment Bank in Amman, Jordan,[1] Wael was educated at Westminster School in London. While at school in the UK capital in the early 1980s, he began regularly attending Chelsea matches. He earned a degree in Computer Science with Business Administration at Boston University, graduating in 1991.[3]

Involvement in football

Al-Qadi became vice-chairman of the Asian Football Development Project in 2011,[4] an executive board member of the Jordan Football Association in 2014, an executive board member of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016, and was a member of the campaign team behind Prince Ali bin Hussein's campaign for the presidency of FIFA at the FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016.[5]

Bristol Rovers

He and his family purchased Bristol Rovers in February 2016.[6] The club were promoted for a second consecutive season in May 2016 with a last minute winner on the final day of the season.[7] In 2017, Dwane Sports group announced the acquisition of a 28-acre site in Almondsbury called The Colony which would become the new training ground for the club.[8] The site remained undeveloped until June 2020 when work began with the aim for the club to move in for the start of the 2020–21 season.[9]

In June 2020, following the death of his father Abdulkadir, Wael reached an agreement with the other members of his family to purchase their shares and gain full control of the club, ten percent remaining with his brother Samer. In addition to this, Wael capitalised the debt owed to Dwane Sports by the football club totalling £18.4 million and £16.4 million of debt owed to the club.[10]

In December 2021, a man was banned from matches for sixteen weeks after racially abusing al-Qadi from an anonymous Twitter account following a 1–1 draw with Barrow.[11] The 2021–22 season saw a second promotion since al-Qadi's involvement with the club, a remarkable 7–0 victory over Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season seeing Rovers move into the final automatic promotion spot ahead of Northampton Town on goals scored, immediately bouncing back from relegation the previous season.[12]

On 3 August 2023, Hussain AlSaeed purchased a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, becoming co-owner of Bristol Rovers and joining the club as chairman. The change in ownership structure saw al-Qadi remain on as club president and all debt owed to Dwane Sports being capitalised.[13]

On 22 November 2024, the club announced that an agreement had been reached for Hussain AlSaeed to acquire all 45% of shares owned by both Wael and his brother Samer. The acquisition would be completed over an eighteen-month period with al-Qadi remaining as club president over the time period.[14]

References

1. Laith Abu-Ragheb (31 August 2016). "Buying into the Beautiful Game". Venture. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
2. "Company Overview of Bristol Rovers Football Club Ltd". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
3. James McNamara (19 February 2016). "Bristol Rovers Takeover: Who are the Al-Qadi family?". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
4. "Prince Ali Chairs Fourth Board Meeting of the AFDP". Jordan Football Association. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
5. Ali Khaled (11 March 2016). "The sporting read: Wael Al Qadi – mapping out his plans to make Bristol Rovers a force". The National. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
6. "Bristol Rovers: Al-Qadi family complete takeover of League Two club". BBC Sport. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
7. "Bristol Rovers 2–1 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
8. "THE COLONY TRAINING GROUND". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
9. "Work To Begin at Training Ground Next Week". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
10. "Club President's Open Letter to Fans..." www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
11. "Man banned for racially abusing Bristol Rovers' owner". BBC News. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
12. "Bristol Rovers 7–0 Scunthorpe United: Joey Barton's side promoted after seven-goal win". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
13. "Club Statement: New Ownership Structure". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
14. "Club Statement | Shareholder Agreement Reached". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.