We can announce today that Raul Sanllehi and Vinai Venkatesham will lead the club following a decision by Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis whose maternal grandmother is Cypriot seen here with our Michael Yiakoumi is to join AC Milan.
Raul, Head of Football Relations, has been appointed as Head of Football and Vinai, currently Chief Commercial Officer, becomes Managing Director.
Josh Kroenke, Deputy Chairman of Arsenal’s majority owner Kroenke Sports and Entertainment UK, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Ivan. We will miss the wisdom, insight, and energy he brought to our club on a daily basis over the past decade. We are confident we have outstanding people in Raul and Vinai, and we look forward to working with them and coach Unai Emery to continue to move the club forward on and off the pitch.”
Club Chairman Sir Chips Keswick said: “Ivan has led Arsenal with skill and dedication and leaves us in a strong position. The club has been transformed and he has recruited talented people, such as Raul, Vinai and of course Unai Emery, who will take us to future success.”
Raul joined us in February after 16 years at Barcelona where he was Director of Football. Vinai arrived in 2010 from London 2012 and has overseen all our commercial activities.
Raul, who will lead our football activities, said: “Although I joined Arsenal just months ago, I´ve felt embraced by this great club and part of its family from the first day. I will do everything possible to maintain our strong values which will be as fundamental to our future as they have been in our past. Vinai and I will need everyone’s help, to do everything right and secure the success everyone connected to Arsenal wants. I sincerely thank Arsenal’s board for their trust in us and thank Ivan for bringing me to this great club, and for consistently supporting me every day, in every way. It´s with overwhelming pride and utmost excitement that I face this new opportunity.”
Vinai, who will oversee all business operations, said: “From the day I joined Arsenal I have always considered it a privilege to serve this great football club, so it’s an honour to take up the position of Managing Director and lead the club alongside Raul. Together we will work tirelessly with the extraordinary staff we have at Arsenal to respect and enhance our unique history, heritage and values; with the overall objective to bring success to our millions of fans all around the world and make them proud of their club. I thank Stan and Josh Kroenke and the rest of the board for their trust in me, and Ivan for all the support he has given me since I joined the club in 2010.”
Ivan will leave by the end of October and becomes Chief Executive at AC Milan on December 1. He said: “For the last ten years I have been privileged to dedicate myself to this great club. Arsenal is entering a new chapter and I have done everything I can to ensure that it is strongly placed to take on that challenge. This includes world class facilities and outstanding leaders in every sector who carry the values of the club, including, of course, Unai Emery, Raul Sanllehi and Vinai Venkatesham in whom I have enormous faith.
“We have been building on the club’s progressive social values, leading the way on the women’s game, diversity and inclusion, and establishing the Arsenal Foundation. This will remain central to the club’s philosophy.
“Although it is very hard to do – the hardest decision of my life – I believe that, after ten years, it is the right time for me to step aside to allow new leadership, energy and ideas to take the club forward into this exciting new era. I believe in the positive force of change, both for me and for the club. I am excited to see what the future holds for this great club and I am energised by a new personal challenge with AC Milan.
“My sincere thanks go to Stan and Josh Kroenke for their support and guidance on everything we have done. To Sir Chips Keswick, Lord Phil Harris, Ken Friar and my wonderful management team and staff, on and off the field, to Arsène Wenger, Unai Emery and to the fans of this giant and incredible club, thank you for your immense support and friendship over so many years and for the wonderful privilege of being part of the journey. We lived through many emotions together, the highs and the lows of football, and I am proud to be able to say that I gave this club and its fantastic people everything that I had in me. I am excited and energised for the future for myself and for Arsenal Football Club and I will always hold it in my heart.”
Ivan Gazidis message to Fans
For the last 10 years I have been privileged to dedicate myself to this great club. Arsenal is entering a new chapter and I have done everything I can to ensure that it is strongly placed to take on that challenge. This includes world-class facilities and outstanding leaders in every sector who carry the values of the club, including, of course, Unai Emery, Raul Sanllehi and Vinai Venkatesham in whom I have enormous faith.
“We have rebuilt the off-field capability of the club, which is necessary for prolonged success in modern football, we have recently concluded new primary partnership deals that, together with the new league broadcast deals, secure our medium term financial future, we have updated our stadium and rebuilt our training facilities so that they are now world class and we have transitioned to a new football structure that is capable of taking the club confidently into the future. I am proud to say we have done this while building on the club’s progressive social values, leading the way on the women’s game as well as diversity and inclusion and establishing The Arsenal Foundation, which supports these values around the world in difficult places such as Iraq and Jordan and complements our extraordinary work in our local community. This will remain central to the club’s philosophy.
“Given this platform, I know many will think this is a strange time to be leaving but I believe it is the right time for me and for the club. Change and succession is not only inevitable for a club like Arsenal, it is necessary if it is continually to keep moving forward. One of my primary responsibilities as chief executive has been to make sure that there is good succession planning in every position in the club, including my own.
“Although it is very hard to do – the hardest decision of my life – I believe that, after 10 years, it is the right time for me to step aside to allow new leadership, energy and ideas to take the club forward into this exciting new era. I believe in the positive force of change, both for me and for the club. While this is the most difficult and challenging course for me, I am excited to see what the future holds for this great club.
“After so many years at Major League Soccer and Arsenal, I am now looking forward to joining one of the world’s other great clubs, AC Milan, and working to restore it to its rightful place in football. Until then, I will continue to devote absolutely all my energy until my last day to ensure an orderly transition for the benefit of Arsenal Football Club.
“My sincere thanks go to Stan and Josh Kroenke for their support and guidance on everything we have done. To Sir Chips Keswick, Lord Phil Harris, Ken Friar and my wonderful management team and staff, on and off the field, to Arsène Wenger, Unai Emery and to the fans of this giant and incredible club, thank you for your immense support and friendship over so many years and for the wonderful privilege of being part of the journey. We lived through many emotions together, the highs and the lows of football, and I am proud to be able to say that I gave this club and its fantastic people everything that I had in me. I am excited and energised for the future for myself and for Arsenal Football Club and I will always hold it in my heart.”
Vinai Venkatesham and Raul Sanllehi
Raul Sanllehi
Raul is a Guilford College graduate and MBA and PDG for IESE, who forged a career in Marketing and sales, running his own business at 17. He rose to be Managing Director of Nike in Spain. He worked with Barcelona from 2002 and was instrumental in bringing dozens of top players to the club. He sits on the Board of the European Clubs’ Association as a Managing Director of the UCCSA and joined Arsenal in February 2018, becoming a member of the Executive Team. He is married with three children.
Vinai Venkatesham
Vinai is an Oxford University graduate, who moved into the sport industry following a career as a strategy consultant where he qualified as a management accountant. At London 2012 he was a key part of the record-breaking sponsorship team who won the Business Achievement of the Year Award at the Sport Industry Awards.
Vinai joined Arsenal in 2010 and was promoted to our Executive Team in 2013. He has been our Chief Commercial Officer since 2014, and in this role led a team of over 200 people across our media, sponsorship, ticketing, hospitality, retail, marketing, strategy and CRM businesses. He was recognised as a ‘Leader under 40’ in the 2015 Leaders awards.
He was a Non-Executive Director at the London 2017 World Athletics Championship and is a Non-Executive Director at the British Olympic Association. He is married with three children.
