Media Sports Investments

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Media Sports Investments (M.S.I.) is the international fund of investors that runs Brazilian football club Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.

Corinthians signed a controversial deal with MSI in 2004 that grants the company a large degree of control of the club, in exchange for large investments. The deal lasts for 10 years. This has brought many good quality players to the team, such as former Boca Juniors star Carlos Tévez, midfielders Marcelo Mattos, Gustavo Nery, Roger, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Alberto, and defenders Sebastián Domínguez and Marinho, as well as coaches Passarella, Márcio Bittencourt and Antonio Lopes.

At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, MSI was behind an attempt by Kia Joorabchian to take over English club West Ham United. The plan was officially abandoned in November of the same year, when agreement on a valuation of the club could not be reached.^[1] They were also rumoured to be considering a buyout of Aston Villa around the same time.^{[citation needed]}

MSI was registered as a company in London on 31 August 2004 with Iranians Kia Joorabchian and Nojan Bedroud listed as directors in filings at Companies House.^[2]

Rumours persist over the involvement of Russian Oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky behind the scenes of MSI, with Chelsea FC owner Abramovich reputedly owning a 15% share of the investment group.^[3]

On 31 August 2006, Kia Joorabchian's involvement with Corinthians looked to have resulted in the club's biggest stars, Javier Mascherano & Carlos Tevez, being loaned out to West Ham; instead it was confirmed that West Ham had in fact signed the players on a permanent deal, not a loan basis. All other details of the transfers were not disclosed. On September 1, 2006, the day after Javier Mascherano & Carlos Tevez made a permanent move to West Ham, the club announced the opening of "exploratory discussions" over a possible takeover, reportedly by a consortium fronted by Joorabchian and Paul Yeubrey. Discussions ended with the confirmation on 21 November 2006 that Eggert Magnússon had succeeded in a rival bid for the East London club.

After the fall of Corinthians to the Brazilian Championship's second division, in 2 December, 2007, the ex-coach of the team, Antonio Lopes said that MSI was not responsible for that. "There was no sequence to the 2005 Brazilian championship title", said Lopes [1].

Also after the fall of Corinthians to the Brazilian Championship's second division, Joorabchian denied any kind of responsibility on that. He said it was other people's fault such as his rival, the Brazilian coach Emerson Leão [2].