Questions over Bolton deal

A deal has been agreed for the sale of Bolton Wanderers to Laurence Bassini, the former Watford owner. Bassini has to pass the EFL owners' test and provide proof of funding. His three year ban from football for three years from 2013 for breaking transfer rules will not affect the test's outcome.

The club said that 'significant funds' would be made available to pay staff and player wages before the deal was ratified with all debts to HMRC to be settled once it was completed.

One fan commented on Twitter, 'How can a bloke (former bankrupt) who still owes over £1 million to another football club pass the fit and proper person test?' Another commented, 'I find it somewhat amusing that, as a Chartered Accountant, I’m held to a higher standard to be a member of Pompey’s Heritage and Advisory Board than Bassini is to be an owner.'

The principal mechanism to check on the suitability of a prospective owner is the owners’ and directors’ test, formerly known as the ‘fit and proper persons’ test. Strictly speaking, this is a Football Association test administered by the EFL. The objective of this test ‘is to protect the image and integrity of The League and its competitions, the well-being of the Clubs, and the interests of all of the stakeholders in those Clubs, by preventing anyone who is subject to a “Disqualifying Condition” being involved in or influencing the management or administration of a Club.’

So what counts as a ‘disqualifying condition’? The matters covered include the long-standing one of being involved in another club; being disqualified by a sports governing body or professional body; having an unspent conviction for a series of offences (including their equivalent abroad); and company disqualification. In principle, this should exclude anyone as an owner or director who might be regarded as ‘dodgy’.

However, there are important limitations to these rules, as is shown by recent events at Bolton. Departing owner Ken Anderson, who took over at Bolton in 2016, was previously disqualified from being a director for eight years. Anderson, who bought Bolton for £1, was disqualified from being a company director in 2005 for transgressions relating to eight companies including diverting or seeking to divert company funds into a personal account, VAT discrepancies and failing to cooperate with receivers.