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The Court of Appeal has ruled against Sisu, the owners of Coventry City, in the latest round of their legal battle with Coventry City council. There could be an appeal to the European Court.
Sisu claimed that a loan made to Arena Coventry Limited, the operators of the Ricoh Arena, was not made on normal commercial terms and represented a breach of European Union state aid rules.
Massino Cellino has said that he is ready to quit Leeds United: ‘I’ve had enough.’ The owner told The Times, ‘It’s better to walk out, not because I’m dishonest but because I’m tired and hurt and lonely,’ as violin music welled up in the background.
He continued, ‘I have no happiness any more and don’t know if I have the enthusiasm for next season. If I could turn back time and you ask whether I would come to this club, I would say never. I’ve never been so confused. I am nearly 60 and I would never have expected that from Leeds.’
Soccer economics guru Stefan Szymaski has been undertaking work on insolvency in football clubs. In particular, he has been taking a look at the French leagues where a stringent regulatory system has been praised by the international football authorities. However, it does not seem to make much difference in the incidence of insolvency compared with the English leagues.
What does seem to be a warning sign is if attendances fall away over a few years below what might be expected from league position.
Leicester City’s participation in the Champions League and the Premiership should bring in £22m to the city in terms of the money spent by visiting fans on accommodation and food. Foreign visitors doing a Premier League tour will be keen to add the King Power stadium to the venues they visit, alongside more familliar destinations such as the Emirates and Old Trafford.
Aston Villa are reported to be in talks with a Chinese consortium about a takeover. The Rui Kang group is said to be involved and Chinese sources are claiming that a preliminary non-binding agreement is already in place.
Rui Kang is a pharmaceutical company with foreign investment and a strong presence in Hong Kong. However, other reports refer to venture capitalists.
A sale price of £100m is being quoted.
Leicester City are already 24th in the rich list of world football clubs and should be in the top fifteen next year. For example, if they achieve a top four finish and reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, their income could top £260m.
The global profile of the club is also improving. From being one of the least watched clubs on television, they are only just behind the likes of Manchester United.
Leicester City are fighting against the imposition of a fine of around £10m for breaches of financial fair play (FFP) regulations.
The situation is complicated but they are facing action based on reported losses of £20.8m for the 2013-14 season, plus further £11m from a controversial sponsorship deal. It has echoes of FFP sanctions imposed on Paris Saint-Germain by Uefa two years ago.
Tottenham Hotspur are close to securing a deal to play all their home matches at Wembley in the 2017-18 season. They are also negotiating with the FA about holding Champions League matches at Wembley next season as they may need to remove 8,000 seats from White Hart Lane to facilitate inittial building work.
Chelsea may have to delay their proposed move to Wembley by 12 months. Spurs have indicated that they are willing to share Wembley with Chelsea for one season, but Chelsea would prefer exclusive use.
Bournemouth made a £38.3m loss in the Championship last season. The loss was mainly due to players’ wages. The salary bill of £30.4m was more than double the club’s turnover.
Wages went up by more than 76 per cent in one year, including performance bonuses for winning promotion. The ratio of salaries to turnover was 237 per cent. I cannot recall such a high ratio among top flight clubs.
Mexico’s LIga MX attracts a bigger audience for its televised games on a Spanish language channel than NBC’s coverage of the Premier League. The article looks more generally at the growing popularity of soccer on US television with quotes from football economics guru Stefan Szymanski.