U.K. Parliament Group Seeks To Curb Use Of Loans To Buy EPL Teams
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U.K. Parliament Group Says Recent Borrowing
Has "Threatened The Game's Future" |
A report from the U.K. All Party Paraliamentary Football Group (APPFG) examining the future of soccer indicated that "tough new rules must prevent owners loading football clubs with 'ludicrous levels of borrowing,'" according to Owen Gibson of the Manchester GUARDIAN. The APPFG "likened the leverage buyouts of Manchester United and Liverpool and the hundreds of millions of pounds in 'soft loans' advanced to Chelsea by Roman Abramovich to 'financial doping.'" The panel also noted the borrowing "threatened the game's future." Gibson notes though the group has "no power to enforce any changes," it also "recommended the adoption of FIFA's controversial 6+5 proposal to guarantee starting places for home-grown talent, and reform of the Premier League board to add more non-executive directors" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 4/21). In London, Kevin Eason notes if the rules "had been tightened and implemented some years ago in the form" the APPFG has demanded, Abramovich and ManU Owner Malcolm Glazer "would not have been able to infiltrate English football with big-money takeovers of two of the clubs now dominating the game." The APPFG also "warns that fans could be priced out of following their teams and calls for clubs to allow one supporters' representative to sit on its board." Eason notes the group "could provide a powerful voice in the long-running squabble" between FIFA President Sepp Blatter, UEFA President Michel Platini and EPL execs "over its clubs' dominance in Europe" (LONDON TIMES, 4/21).
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