THE co-owner of Sunderland is aiming to help bankroll the club back to the Premier League – with millions he made selling drugs.
Juan Sartori bought a 20 per cent stake in the League One club last month and is desperate to help the Black Cats back to the top flight.
Juan Sartori bought a 20 per cent stake in Sunderland last month having made his fortune in Latin AmericaGetty - Contributor
And some of the money he will be ploughing in to Sunderland has been made from flogging marijuana in South America.
The Uruguayan tycoon was the key man behind International Cannabis Company, who hold the licence in his home country to sell the drug for recreation and medicinal use.
After the sale of cannabis was legalised in 2016, ICC was selected by the nation’s government to produce two tons of marijuana a year which was then sold on to the public in pharmacies.
But yesterday it was announced that Canadian firm Aurara Cannabis had agreed a £170million takeover deal to buy ICC, handing major shareholder Sartori a bumper windfall.
Sartori made millions with his company growing and selling cannabis in UruguayAFP or licensors
The tycoon sold his cannabis growing company for £170million this weekGetty - Contributor
Aurora CEO Terry Booth said: “ICC is an ideal partner for Aurora to establish leadership in the South American market for cannabis, providing a clear advantage as the first player in a continent with more than 420 million people.”
Sartori, 37, is president and founder of Union Group – a privately owned company which has interest across a range of industries in Latin America.
Speaking in the past about his investment in the drug, Sartori said: “We are always looking at novel agricultural products and this was the most interesting one.
“It’s obviously a very big market that was completely illegal around the world but over two years ago there started a path forward, legalisation and relaxation of the laws.
“Uruguay was the first, the first to say they are going to completely legalise. Since then over half the states in the United States has legalised cannabis use, Canada has legalised.
“Overnight a product that was illegal but had a big market has become a standard one.”
And he is now intent on making a success of things in football, having joined the board at Sunderland alongside Stewart Donald who headed up a takeover of the club over the close season.
Sartori said: “Sunderland is a huge club, the seventh largest in England, a club with a lot of history and a big following, and that’s what made it attractive.
The Cannabis XI
Rob GREEN
Gaten BONG
Lewis SKUNK
John STONED
John Arne REEFER
Damien PUFF
BLAZED Matuidi
MARIJUANA Fellaini
WEED Malbranque
Carlos BACCY
Danny WelBLOWBACK
Manager: PIPE Guardiola
Team: Borussia MUNCHIESgladbach
“I think 17 months ago it was a club in the Premier League, now it’s starting the League One season so definitely something went wrong there, something went very, very wrong.
“The biggest job we have to do now is to identify what are the problems and then a very strong turnaround to take the club back to where we believe it deserves to be, and most of the fans, which is back in the Premier League.
“We have a plan which is a two to three-year plan which is very aggressive and is actually working pretty well. From a business point of view it’s turning and showing the results of the job we are doing.”
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