The Political Economy of Football V2

Much of the focus on links between oligarchs and football has been on Chelsea, but there are also issues relating to Everton.   In all fairness, it should be said that there have been links across the economy with so-called Russian ‘dirty money’ with London being nicknamed ‘Londongrad’ because of the presence of oligarchs.   It has been claimed that many in the financial services sector and in leading law firms have done well from their presence. Everton has suspended its sponsorships with Russian companies connected to Uzbek-born billionaire Alisher Ushamov, who was hit by EU sanctions earlier this week.     It is suspending all commercial sponsorship arrangements with the Usmanov-related companies USM, Megafon (Russia’s second largest phone network) and Yota. The club will also remove the Megafon logo from the side of Goodison Park, the USM signage from the Finch Farm training ground and the sponsor from their women’s team’s shirts. The club said...

Everton are facing the biggest losses in their history and leading football finance expert Kieran Maguire says that they have suffered from poor management decisions: Sunday Telegraph report But there is new hope for the club with Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov keen to get involved. He was formerly a significant shareholder at Arsenal, and still retains an affection for the North London club, but is prepared to help his business partner Farhad Moshiri at Everton. Mr Moshiri is executive chairman and a shareholder in Mr Usmanov's holding company, USM. Mr Usmanov has a fortune of $16bn from a variety of enterprises, but is far less reliant on resource extraction than many Russian businessmen. Mr Usmanov revealed his intentions over lunch with the head of the Moscow bureau of the Financial Times. Although the interview seems to have been somewhat tense at times, Mr Usmanov was open about his intentions. He felt he could achieved something at Arsenal, but it became clear t...

Alisher Usmanov is considering using some of the money he made from selling his Arsenal shares to Stan Kroenke to made a bid for Charlton: Charlton bid Usmanov has already pledged to put more money into Everton, but is said to want a club of his own and to see potential in the South-East London club. It is currently owned by controversial Belgian Roland Duchatelet who has been the subject of a campaign of protest by Charlton fans. Rumours about Usmanov having an interest in Charlton first surfaced a few months ago, so one must be cautious about them.

Arsenal fans fear that they will be further sidelined if Alisher Usmanov sells his 30 per cent stake to majority shareholder Stan Kroenke. Usmanov has explored selling his stake after accepting that his rival will not let him take full control. Kroenke owns a 67 per cent stake in Arsenal and there are fears of a reduction in transparency if he acquires the club outright. Were Kroenke to reach a 90 per cent stake, the remaining shareholders would be obliged to sell to him and he could then delist the club from the stock exchange. It is possible that the club's legal status could be transferred to the United States. In a statement referring to Stan Kroenke's refusal to engage with supporters, the Arsenal Supporters' Trust said: 'Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person and there should be a plurality of ownership, including supporters.' Mr Usmanov has said he is willing to sell to any party - other than Mr Kroenke - who 'shares my and undoubted...

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 ano...

Expectations for the upcoming auction of television rights are helping to drive interest in buying top flight football clubs. Forecasts of how much the current £5.1bn fee could rise vary from £200m to £1bn. A lot depends on whether Amazon and Facebook throw their hats in the ring and if they do so on their own behalf or in conjunction with conventional broadcasters. One club where there is uncertainty is Arsenal. Alisher Usmanov could be prepared to sell his stake. He could then put the proceeds into Everton, teaming up with his long-term business partner Farhad Moshiri. Moshiri sold his 15 per cent stake in Arsenal last year to Usmanov. Liverpool could be available for sale at the right price. John Henry is keen to put the loss-making Boston Globe newspaper on a stable footing. Bids of around £800m for Liverpool have been knocked back with the club valued by Fenway at £1.5bn. It is felt that countries are the real value investors these days. However, clubs are no longer ...