Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner poised to buy Charlton

By Charles Sale for the Daily Mail

Published: 22:51, 28 November 2013 | Updated: 09:24, 29 November 2013

Investment banker Josh Harris is set to become the latest American sports franchise owner to buy into English football.

The 48-year-old billionaire, who owns basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers and ice hockey team New Jersey Devils, is said to be in detailed talks to purchase Charlton. The Championship club have been linked with a number of potential takeover moves recently, including consortiums from Turkey and Russia.

But the bid by Harris is understood to have progressed to an advanced stage since his associates came over for Charlton’s home game against Leeds earlier this month.

American boy: US investment banker Josh Harris is in advanced talks to take over Charlton Athletic

New order: Charlton boss Chris Powell has not had his contract renewed with a sale looking imminent

Stars & stripes: Harris already owns the Philadelphia 79ers NBA team and the New Jersey Devils hockey side

Charlton are co-owned by Tony Jiminez and Michael Slater but it is claimed Mayfair property developer Kevin Cash bankrolls the London club and is keen to recoup his funding. Also, Jiminez has had to repay £500,000 to his former Newcastle colleague Dennis Wise after a High Court ruling regarding a property investment.

Manager Chris Powell and a number of players are in the last year of contracts that haven’t been renewed because of the likelihood of a Charlton sale.

Harris, who spent around £500million buying his NBA and NHL franchises, could easily afford the mooted £43m price for Charlton that would include the freehold of The Valley. And there are ambitious plans being proposed for Charlton, who could, with the aid of wealthy owners, build a new stadium on land near the O2 Arena. 

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England's Premiership Rugby clubs, who look isolated in the European split after the French opted to stay with the Heineken Cup, are likely to further explore setting up a competition with leading South African teams.

The South African sides have issues about their financial share from the Super 15 tournament that includes Australian and New Zealand outfits but are contracted for the 2014-15 season. Preliminary talks are believed to be under way over an England-South Africa option that would meet BT funding demands for an international contest. But it would mean Premiership clubs having a year out of Europe.

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Match-fixing is seen within sport as being on a par with drug-taking, yet the Government, who fund UK Anti-Doping with £6m a year, provide no money towards sports betting integrity. The Shadow sports minister Clive Efford (right), whose proposed amendments to the Gambling Act that would have enhanced surveillance were turned down, said the Government are ‘burying their heads in the sand’.

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Ascot racecourse are searching for a new financial director following the departure of Alan Flitcroft, who arrived from Cardiff City in 2011. Flitcroft quietly left to spare Ascot the considerable embarrassment of having such a senior figure facing a Financial Reporting Council disciplinary tribunal.

The FRC have accused Flitcroft of misconduct and failing to meet expected standards when he was the auditor of Christmas savings firm Farepak, whose collapse in 2006 with losses of £37m cost thousands of struggling families their annual savings.

Disciplined: Ascot racecourse (above) need a new financial director after Andrew Flitcroft stepped down

Zlatan loses by a nose

The William Hill Sports Book of the Year invariably goes to one of the more esoteric titles on the shortlist, as it did yet again in its 25th year with Doped, the story of a 1960s racehorse doping gang.

Second best: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's autobiography lost out to Doped in the Sports Book of the Year awards

But at least I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the extraordinary autobiography of the Swedish superstar, ran the far less marketable winner close. The judges were tied 2-2, with the casting vote going to Jamie Reid’s Doped.

Andrew Flintoff, William Hill ambassador at the awards, is enjoying a variety of roles, including teaching English in a school deep in the Amazon jungle for a Sky documentary as well as coaching Lancashire youngsters.

Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Managers’ Association, is to become chairman of cricket’s Caribbean Premier League in addition to his football role. Bevan has plenty of cricket experience from his time as CEO of the Professional Cricketers’ Association.