Jack Hughes? Didn't He Play For Watford In The 1930's
Arsenal Football Club tonight faces accusations that it has been secretly controlling the Belgian Club Beveren, having lent £1m to one of the individuals in the Consortium that owns the club and also loaned the club directly £200k. The claims are given prominence on the BBC Sport Website here, and on the Newsnight page here. In addition to this, the report alledges that Arsene Wenger has personally profited from transfer dealings, some of which involve Arsenal Football Club. Arsenal have issued an official statement, here, but nothing is on the official website as of 21:15 GMT.
The salient facts of the Report are:
An unnamed Beveren director states that the £1m gave Raoul de Waele, apparently a business associate of David Dein and a founding Director of Goal, 50% control whilst Gillou gained 30%. Now I do not dispute this. I am however suspicious of people who will only hide behind a mask and not stand by their own name to make allegations or support suppositions. Perhaps this director could come forward and identify himself. It is only then that the reason for his disgruntlement can be ascertained. Maybe he wants control of Beveren himself and sees this as an opportunity to further his cause. Maybe he has no other reason than wanting the best for the club but this will never be known whilst his identity is secret.
A Belgian magistrate has stated the "de Waele is Arsenal's straw man" on the Beveren Board and that this is how the Londoners control the Belgians. There is no direct evidence of this provided to substantiate the claim. The Beveren Chairman is less reticent, stating to Police that Arsenal are the main shareholders in Goal, and that de Waele is Dein's Trustee. If this is the case, then the investment should have been openly reported in Arsenal's Financial Statements. To the best of my knowledge, it is not. Therefore, either this assertion is wrong or every Arsenal Director and the Auditors lay themselves open to prosecution by the DTi. Serious penalties would ensue ranging from fines to custodial sentences to prevention from being Company Directors. These impact on a range of businesses outside of football, raising serious questions about the individuals should this turn out to be the case. Even worse, their fitness to be Directors would be seriously questioned more through the stupidity of their actions than anything else. Could they be so daft as to do this? Well, anything is possibly no matter how unlikely it seems but given the high profile football has, I would be astounded if these claims turned out to be true.
The "boss" of ASEC, one of the major Ivorian clubs and an investor in the Academy whilst Monaco did so, Roger Ouegnin told us "They are not investors they are usurers." Now I know not what nationality Ouegnin is but I assume he is an Ivorian. According to the Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary defines Usurer as "One that lends money at an exorbitant rate". Perhaps a better word would be "Investor" Mr Ouegnin. Anyone who puts up Capital is an investor not a loan shark. Even more, Mr. Ouegnin stands open to accusations of gross hypocrisy. After all, did his football club AESC benefit financially from the arrangement? It is his own naivety that shames him if he did not include a sell-0n clause. Even worse, Mr Ouegnin is accusing himself and his organisation. If his investors were Loan Sharks then what does that make Mr Ouegnin? Meanwhile, Wenger does himself no favours by claiming that he donated his £30k rather than invested it. Perhaps he did and I am doing him a disservice but I am a cycnical sod who remembers George Graham's "business" dealings rather too well. But before I condemn Wenger, there needs to be some clarification. Does he retain any interest in the Academy? If not, when did it cease? Was he involved when he took over at Arsenal and to what degree is he involved in the transfers. It is my understanding that he recommends targets but that the Board actions them, agreeing fees and contracts. In all honesty, would the club complain about the Ivorians he has signed? Toure - no complaints, Eboue - no complaints...there is a pattern here!
FIFA is quite rightly investigating the affair. Penalties for wrongdoing range from fines to expulsions from competitions. The Newsnight report incorrectly states that FIFA could expel Arsenal from the Champions League. They cannot. The organising body is UEFA who if asked by FIFA to pursue disciplinary action against the club could expel them from the competition. If there is any wrongdoing, my guess is that a fine would be levied but far from crowing about this, every other club would be forced to review their reciprocal arrangements with "nursery" clubs. Any punishment could have a detrimental effect on these types of arrangements, a worringly potential outcome for smaller clubs and African football in general.
Based on the report on the website, it is apparent that most, if not all, the accusations come from business partners falling out. Perhaps the most salient comment is that none of the investors in the Academy have received any monies as they are all subject to Legal actions in France and Belgium. The motivation for the accusations is made absolutely crystal clear in the final two paragraphs on the Newsnight site:
"back in Abidjan there is unhappiness that little of the money generated by football has made it back to the Ivory Coast. Roger Ouegnin at ASECS is still waiting for the £1m that he say Beveren owe them.
He and Guillou are counterclaiming against each other. Ouegnin also claims Arsenal have not paid him £500,000 which he says they owe for Kolo Toure even though he says it is just a "drop in the ocean" for them when Toure is worth £10 million plus. "
Hell hath no fury like a business deal that goes tits up.
Rather worringly, Newsnight is open to accusations of slack journalism. There slant on the Report is one of Arsenal doing wrong whilst accepting fully the accusations of bitter individuals. There is little balance to the journalistic endeavours, perhaps even a sensationalist attitude prevailed. This is highlighted by the outright question of whether Arsenal took a cut from transfer deals involving the Ivorians yet they do not provide any evidence to substantiate this question, more leave it hanging in the air, the rationale appears to be that if they throw enough mud maybe some of it will stick.
One final point. The report on the website states, "At the same time the team threw out most of its Belgian players and replaced them with unknowns from an academy in Ivory Coast, West Africa.", further augmented by, "Newsnight watched an all-white crowd cheer on an all-black Beveren". I have requested an explanation of the latter comment from Newsnight's editors. The implication is that their are racial motivations involved in this deal. I wait with baited breath to see if they reply.
The salient facts of the Report are:
- Arsenal loaned £1m interest - free to set up a company called Goal to purchase Beveren (photograph of Loan agreement here)
- Arsenal subsequently loaned Beveren £200k to stabilise the clubs finances.
- Arsene Wenger invested £30k in Jean-Marc Gillou's Academy in the Ivory Coast, potentially earning £100k as a Return On Investment (photograph of official document here).
- AS Monaco funded the Academy whilst Wenger was manager.
An unnamed Beveren director states that the £1m gave Raoul de Waele, apparently a business associate of David Dein and a founding Director of Goal, 50% control whilst Gillou gained 30%. Now I do not dispute this. I am however suspicious of people who will only hide behind a mask and not stand by their own name to make allegations or support suppositions. Perhaps this director could come forward and identify himself. It is only then that the reason for his disgruntlement can be ascertained. Maybe he wants control of Beveren himself and sees this as an opportunity to further his cause. Maybe he has no other reason than wanting the best for the club but this will never be known whilst his identity is secret.
A Belgian magistrate has stated the "de Waele is Arsenal's straw man" on the Beveren Board and that this is how the Londoners control the Belgians. There is no direct evidence of this provided to substantiate the claim. The Beveren Chairman is less reticent, stating to Police that Arsenal are the main shareholders in Goal, and that de Waele is Dein's Trustee. If this is the case, then the investment should have been openly reported in Arsenal's Financial Statements. To the best of my knowledge, it is not. Therefore, either this assertion is wrong or every Arsenal Director and the Auditors lay themselves open to prosecution by the DTi. Serious penalties would ensue ranging from fines to custodial sentences to prevention from being Company Directors. These impact on a range of businesses outside of football, raising serious questions about the individuals should this turn out to be the case. Even worse, their fitness to be Directors would be seriously questioned more through the stupidity of their actions than anything else. Could they be so daft as to do this? Well, anything is possibly no matter how unlikely it seems but given the high profile football has, I would be astounded if these claims turned out to be true.
The "boss" of ASEC, one of the major Ivorian clubs and an investor in the Academy whilst Monaco did so, Roger Ouegnin told us "They are not investors they are usurers." Now I know not what nationality Ouegnin is but I assume he is an Ivorian. According to the Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary defines Usurer as "One that lends money at an exorbitant rate". Perhaps a better word would be "Investor" Mr Ouegnin. Anyone who puts up Capital is an investor not a loan shark. Even more, Mr. Ouegnin stands open to accusations of gross hypocrisy. After all, did his football club AESC benefit financially from the arrangement? It is his own naivety that shames him if he did not include a sell-0n clause. Even worse, Mr Ouegnin is accusing himself and his organisation. If his investors were Loan Sharks then what does that make Mr Ouegnin? Meanwhile, Wenger does himself no favours by claiming that he donated his £30k rather than invested it. Perhaps he did and I am doing him a disservice but I am a cycnical sod who remembers George Graham's "business" dealings rather too well. But before I condemn Wenger, there needs to be some clarification. Does he retain any interest in the Academy? If not, when did it cease? Was he involved when he took over at Arsenal and to what degree is he involved in the transfers. It is my understanding that he recommends targets but that the Board actions them, agreeing fees and contracts. In all honesty, would the club complain about the Ivorians he has signed? Toure - no complaints, Eboue - no complaints...there is a pattern here!
FIFA is quite rightly investigating the affair. Penalties for wrongdoing range from fines to expulsions from competitions. The Newsnight report incorrectly states that FIFA could expel Arsenal from the Champions League. They cannot. The organising body is UEFA who if asked by FIFA to pursue disciplinary action against the club could expel them from the competition. If there is any wrongdoing, my guess is that a fine would be levied but far from crowing about this, every other club would be forced to review their reciprocal arrangements with "nursery" clubs. Any punishment could have a detrimental effect on these types of arrangements, a worringly potential outcome for smaller clubs and African football in general.
Based on the report on the website, it is apparent that most, if not all, the accusations come from business partners falling out. Perhaps the most salient comment is that none of the investors in the Academy have received any monies as they are all subject to Legal actions in France and Belgium. The motivation for the accusations is made absolutely crystal clear in the final two paragraphs on the Newsnight site:
"back in Abidjan there is unhappiness that little of the money generated by football has made it back to the Ivory Coast. Roger Ouegnin at ASECS is still waiting for the £1m that he say Beveren owe them.
He and Guillou are counterclaiming against each other. Ouegnin also claims Arsenal have not paid him £500,000 which he says they owe for Kolo Toure even though he says it is just a "drop in the ocean" for them when Toure is worth £10 million plus. "
Hell hath no fury like a business deal that goes tits up.
Rather worringly, Newsnight is open to accusations of slack journalism. There slant on the Report is one of Arsenal doing wrong whilst accepting fully the accusations of bitter individuals. There is little balance to the journalistic endeavours, perhaps even a sensationalist attitude prevailed. This is highlighted by the outright question of whether Arsenal took a cut from transfer deals involving the Ivorians yet they do not provide any evidence to substantiate this question, more leave it hanging in the air, the rationale appears to be that if they throw enough mud maybe some of it will stick.
One final point. The report on the website states, "At the same time the team threw out most of its Belgian players and replaced them with unknowns from an academy in Ivory Coast, West Africa.", further augmented by, "Newsnight watched an all-white crowd cheer on an all-black Beveren". I have requested an explanation of the latter comment from Newsnight's editors. The implication is that their are racial motivations involved in this deal. I wait with baited breath to see if they reply.
posted by Yogi's Warrior at 7:42 pm
1 Comments:
"Leading", sports lawyer Mel Goldberg told BBC 5Live ..."There are two sets of rules you need to look at.
"One is the Premier League rules which prevent clubs owning shares or an interest in another Premiership or Football League club. That hasn't happened here.
"Then there are UEFA and FIFA rules which are similar, about clubs owning shares in foreign teams, and I don't think that's happened either."
Quite. Fucking lawyers. Meanwhile let's hawk these vulnerable kids round Europe and make a few extra millionen Euros. Sport ? Don't make me laugh.
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