Trio of sporting stars who backed property developments in Spain with their own money and persuaded other British Fly to Let investors to do the same, are now counting the cost after the schemes were scrapped.The Daily Mail carried the story of how five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave, 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst, and former England World Cup rugby star Tony Underwood were all endorsers and investors in the Royal Marbella Group, which later became the Royal Duja Group.
Some of Royal Duja's projects, such as Royal Cabanas in the Algarve, where other well known names, such as Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, invested, did go ahead. But the newspaper reported that another of the investment projects, Lince Sanctuario near Seville, will never be built. It was said that Redgrave invested in a £2million off-plan villa on this site and in return for a discount on the property had allowed his face and name to be used to promote the development on Royal Duja Group's billboards. He is now seking legal advice over the issue.In an interview with the Daily Mail, Redgrave said: “It's been a disaster, with the planning permission revoked. I have lost my investment. I've done promotional work for the developer and that was half the payment for the plot I had. I've lost a hell of a lot of time and image.“I've been talking to Geoff Hurst and he has similar problems. He has invested and he has friends who invested,” added Redgrave.The newspaper report explained how Hurst's and Underwood's off-plan flats at the former Royal Marbella development at Aldea Beach in Manilva on the Costa del Sol were issued building licences illegally by local mayor Pedro Tirado.Tirado has now been imprisoned for accepting bribes and Hurst is leading a group action to try to get back money he and other investors put into the development which are now unlikely to materialise.