Football finance guru Kieran Maguire was asked on Radio 5 this morning if the interim State of the Game report issued by the independent football regulator was a surprise. He said that it was not and he had written a similar report for the Government in 2020. As long as benefactor owners keeping turning up, do fragile finances matter. As Maguire pointed out, fewer clubs are going into administration than 20 years ago. I cannot think of any other sector of the economy where the producers are largely those in existence 100 years ago, including most of the leaders. Given their importance to fan identity, mergers usually only occur at the non-league level. It is one thing to identify the problem, another to come up with workable solutions. Meanwhile, faas and last night even players criticise owners for failing to 'invest'. English football brings in over £9bn but IFR finds 94 per cent of clubs are loss making. Nearly two-thirds of EFL and Nat...
Concern is growing in business and political consequences of the scandal at Manchester City. The Financial Times devotes a whole page it today under the headline 'Man City cheating scandal risks growing geopolitical quagmire.' It is important to keep a sense of proportion as the FT does. The leading sports business paper is not presenting a worst case scenario, simply pointing out some of the risks. Relations between the UK and the UAE are important both economically and politically, but have been subject to recurrent tensions. They are best described as 'volatile'. The row over the acquisition of the Telegraph caused particular turbulence with some in the UAE taking the view that opposition to the deal (which eventually failed) was driven by racism. As the FT notes, 'Abu Dhabi has a history of using commercial contracts to exert pressure on the UK.' Britain has often needed UAE funds. In the global financial crisis the UAE provided a £3.5 billion emergency...