Skip to main content

Questions raised about Everton ownership

Everton's ownership and the alleged involvement of Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov will be scrutinised in a two part BBC Panorama special to be broadcast tomorrow and on Monday. The BBC has obtained documents relating to Usmanov's purchase of a 14.58 per cent stake in Arsenal in 2007 through the Red & White investment vehicle that he jointly owned with Farhad Moshiri, who sold up to his business partner last year to facilitate his 49.9 per cent purchase of Everton.

It is understood that the programme will claim that the documents show that Moshiri's initial Arsenal stake was a gift from Usmanov, leading to the suggestion that the billionaire from Uzbekistan was behind the Iranian's purchase of Everton as he was the original source of the funds.

Everton and a spokesman for Usmanov deny that he has any involvement at Goodison, which would be a breach of Premier League rules that state that any shareholder with a 10 per cent stake in one club cannot buy into another. The Premier League conducted a due diligence process before signing off Moshiri's Everton purchase and is confident that he used his own money.

There has been speculation for some time that Usmanov would ultimately join Moshiri at Everton as he has no influence at Arsenal and the pair have a number of joint investments. These rumours gained momentum after Usmanov's company, USM holdings, announced a sponsorship deal for the club's training ground in January.

David Conn has now produced a much more detailed account of investigations into the relationship between Moshiri and Usmanov. However, the gist of his argument that appears to be that while league rules cover one person owning a share in two clubs, they do not cover the situation where two business associates have a close relationship. In other words, one could infer that no existing rules have been broken: Leaked files

Comments

  1. So what are you,alleging? A gift is a gift ! are saying that it was given
    To purchase ,Everton for Usmanov ? or the gift was illegal??. Please qualify! . Due diligence ( fire smoke Arsenals chiefs briefings ) 😈.
    If the BBC was Lilly White I would take notice but it is well known
    who influences the Bent Broadcasting Corporation.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...