Back when owner Dave Checketts was still pitching a new stadium for his Real Salt Lake soccer team, he heralded a monumental 10-year partnership agreement with the legendary Spanish team Real Madrid -- in honor of which, he named his team -- that would include training visits, exhibition matches and the joint construction of a soccer academy for elite young players.
Two and a half years later, little of that has come to pass.
RSL has trained in Madrid only once, not annually as Checketts said it would, utilizing Real Madrid's premier facilities. The first of what was supposed to be biennial exhibition games between the teams in Utah was canceled last summer, when RSL agreed to allow Real Madrid to play elsewhere for more money. And amid a faltering global economy and scandal within the Real Madrid hierarchy involving the former president with whom Checketts reached the agreement, the proposed $25 million soccer academy -- now, probably $40 million -- remains up in the air.
"What they're saying to us now is, 'Let us get the new leadership put in place, the entire board of directors signed off on our agreement with you -- and you will continue to have our support and enthusiasm ... and we'll come back to you,' " Checketts said.
By autumn, he added, "I think we'll know what we're going to do."
It could take that long in large part because of the scandal that has enveloped Real Madrid in recent months.
Team president Ramon Calderon, who visited Utah with his team for an exhibition game in 2006 and arranged for superstar David Beckham to attend the groundbreaking for Rio Tinto Stadium, resigned four months ago amid allegations that he rigged a vote to approve his administration of the club. The sports newspaper Marca said Calderon sneaked into a club assembly 10 men who did not meet the criteria for voting, and that all 10 voted for Calderon, helping him to a narrow victory.
Calderon denied the allegations, but has been charged with them in the Madrid courts -- as well as for voting irregularities in a previous election that brought him to power. He could face up to three years in prison if found guilty, Marca said, and his resignation has forced the team to hold new elections for its leadership next month.
Still, a spokesman said Real Madrid maintains a close relationship with RSL.
"Although some of the expected larger developments have not advanced as quickly as previously anticipated, we must not forget that not all things in this type of relationship happen in front of the cameras," said Ivan Bravo, the director of strategic planning for Real Madrid. "We continue to have a permanent know-how exchange with Dave and his group, consulting each other on topics ranging from sports decisions to business opportunities. We are thrilled to see RSL's progress in MLS, having reached the conference finals last season."
Both sides said that the weak global economy has been a big problem.
Since its only preseason training trip to Spain in 2007, RSL has avoided traveling there, for example, because a weak dollar has made it too expensive --- though Bravo said "the invitation was extended," as it is every year. Instead, RSL has limited its preseason trips to the United States and South America.
Similarly, the confluence last summer of the weak dollar and soaring oil prices kept RSL from hosting Real Madrid for a scheduled exhibition game.
As part of its contract for the game, RSL was required to pay Real Madrid an appearance fee in euros -- up about 30 percent against the dollar, at that time, since the agreement was reached. The travel expenses that RSL also was required to pay were substantially higher, too, because of the record oil market. So when Real Madrid started to receive better offers to play elsewhere, RSL was willing to let it cancel the game, to avoid having to pay much more than expected at a time it was finishing construction on $110 million Rio Tinto Stadium.
General manager Garth Lagerwey has said he expects RSL to host Real Madrid again, but biennial reunions seem uncertain.
Bravo said Real Madrid must alternate its summer trips to cultivate its world-wide fan base, "nor would it be beneficial to travel to Salt Lake every time we visit the U.S. Every market needs to be nurtured, even considering our esteemed relationship with fans and followers in Salt Lake." He added that Real Madrid will return to Utah "when the timing is right."
And the soccer academy -- envisioned as an elite training location for up to 200 teenage players, including an indoor field, private school, and eventually, dormitories?
Checketts said both sides are "still enthusiastic" and "remain committed" to building the facility -- part of the stadium deal, for which city voters approved a $15.3 million bond and RSL promised to add $7.5 million -- but that RSL won't be able to do so until Salt Lake City finalizes plans to build an adjoining multi-field soccer complex.
"That hasn't gone anywhere," Checketts said. "And that's really the issue. Real Madrid is ready, willing and able and has confirmed that to us. But in this economy, all the rules change. I don't know when or if that will get done."
The director of public services for the city, Rick Graham, said the city is working on a land-transfer agreement with the state to assume ownership of a 160-acre site near 2000 North and Interstate 215.
But, having updated the budget calculations since voters approved the bond measure six years ago, Graham now expects the project will cost about $40 million -- and only partially because of inflation.
"In reality, we probably underestimated the cost of that facility," he said.
That means that even after the land transfer is complete, the team and the city will need another $17.5 million to build the complex in line with "what the voters voted for." City officials have been taking with Salt Lake County for nearly a year about helping plug the budget hole. But if no solution can be reached, Graham said the project would have to be scaled back.
You know, sort of like the partnership between RSL and Real Madrid.
Editor's note: This version corrects that RSL has trained in Madrid once, in 2007.
