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The promotion celebrations of Queens Park Rangers fans were truncated yesterday after Norwich scored a last minute goal, denying the West London side the certainty of promotion. However, given the current state of the table and the remaining fixtures it would require a bizarre combination of results to stop the Super Hoops going up.
The Serious Fraud Office is considering whether to launch an investigation into how Notts County FC was taken over by a convicted fraudster.
Two years ago the club was ‘gifted’ by the supporters’ trust to Munto Finance, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands and claiming to be from the Middle East. It promised significant investment in the club, but these promises turned out to be a sham. Russell King, the man allegedly behind the deal, served a jail sentence for insurance fraud in the 1990s.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons select committee inquiry into the governance of football, David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester United, admitted that ‘it would be better’ if the club did not have to pay gross interest of £45m a year on net debt of £370m.
However, he denied that it had had a detrimental impact on the performance of the team. ‘It hasn’t hampered investment in players and facilities, and we’ve taken a long-term view on investment that we wouldn’t have if we were still a public company,’ Gill said.
Football league chairman Greg Clarke has told the Commons committee investigating football that clubs are heading for a ‘debt precipice’. Interviewed later on Radio 5, he said that debt was on the increase and even if one took steps to cut it now it would be five years before any effect was seen. At the risk of repetition, it is perhaps worth pointing out that what matters with debt is not its absolute size but whether you can service it.
The House of Commons culture, media and sport committee has started its enquiry into football and one of the first witnesses was former FA chairman Lord Triesman. He didn’t mince his words. Describing English football governance as ‘thoroughly unsatisfactory’, he said that ‘apart from onfield discipline, [the FA] has backed out of regulating.’
There have been calls for the winter transfer window to be scrapped because of its distorting effect on the market. Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Managers’ Association said in the transcript of an interview to be shown on BBC Midlands Late Kick Off show tonight, ‘It doesn’t create stability and it doesn’t create a level playing field and certainly in the Football Leafue they are very keen that the domestic window to be scrapped.’
The furore over the sacking of Sky pundit Andy Gray over sexist remarks has attracted massive attention in the media over the past week. As far as one can judge from radio phone-ins, imprompu polls and vox pop, fans are divided in their opinons. For some of them it is simply banter or what ‘most men would say anyway’, an illustration of political correctness gone mad. For others, it reflected the fact that football had not caught up with changes in society.
A contributed article by Karen Bhardwaj:
Last week it was reported that the European Commission has sought to take on the role in regulating football transfers. This is a step which could see the apex body FIFA losing some amount of control. The rules implemented by the world governing body have to comply with the laws laid down by the EU.
When we have discussed the potential impact of Uefa’s financial fair play rules on top clubs, we have often referred to Manchester City. But as a revitalised Blackburn Rovers aims for a place in European competitions, it too needs to get its financial house in order if it is not to fall foul of the new rules.
Under pressure from European clubs, Fifa is backtracking on the idea of staging the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the winter. It has put the ball in Qatar’s court, stating that any decision would require an application from their national association to the Fifa executive. It is likely that Qatar will shelve a final decision until after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.