Serie A TIM/Serie BKT: 22.5% of clubs (9/40) under foreign ownership in 2020-21

Nine of the 40 clubs participating in the 2020-21 first and second division championships in Italy - 20 clubs in the Serie A TIM, 20 in the Serie BKT - are under foreign ownership, i.e. 22.5%, according to News Tank Football as of 16/04/2021 (see infographic below). This foreign influence is much stronger in the top flight (7 clubs, 35%) than in the Serie B (2 clubs, 10%).

The latest club to be acquired by capital outside Italy was AC Spezia Calcio (promoted to Serie A TIM), officially acquired by American Robert Platek and his family in February 2021. A month earlier, AC Pisa 1909 (Serie BKT) passed into the hands of Alexander Knaster, a Russian-born businessman living in Great Britain.

Apart from AC Pisa 1909 and FC Inter Milan, which is owned by a Chinese group (Suning), all other foreign owners of Italian clubs come from North America:
• Six clubs are owned by investors from the USA: ACF Fiorentina, AC Milan, Parma Calcio 1913, AS Roma, Spezia Calcio (Serie A TIM) and Venezia FC (Serie BKT)
• One club is owned by a Canadian: Bologna FC 1909.

However, the proportion of clubs in the…