Report: Alinghi paid Ras al Khaimah $5 million

Now that the 33rd America's Cup is done and dusted and while we are waiting for news on its 34th edition, there was an interesting piece of information that caught our attention this morning. According to an article that appeared today in Arabian Business, Dr Khater Massaad, CEO of RAK Investment Authority (RAKIA), stated that despite his Emirate not holding the 33rd America's Cup, the $2 million spent on it were a good investment since they "put RAK on the world map".

According to the same article, Dr Massaad, also said the amount invested by the emirate to overhaul its infrastructure ahead of the race fell far short of the reported $120m, and that its partner in the bid, Swiss racing syndicate Alinghi, had refunded $5m of the state's costs.

According to what Dr Massaad had stated to us in his interview last August, "the Crown Prince is taking this event as an opportunity to make significant infrastructure investments for Ras Al Khaimah but the infrastructure for the event itself is ready. The island is ready but the government is spending around 100 million US dollars for general infrastructure in the emirate as a whole." Apparently, the Emirate spent much less than that.