League One side Charlton Athletic Owner Roland Duchâtelet said that supporters’ protests have "no effect on him" but he described investing in football as "the mistake of my life," according to Dan Kilpatrick of the London EVENING STANDARD. The club will be discussed at an English Football League board meeting on Thursday, with Duchâtelet’s "extreme cost-cutting measures" -- including refusing to pay employees 10% bonuses -- "demoralising staff and infuriating fans." Charlton is thought to have been losing £10M ($12.9M) a year since Duchâtelet’s £17M takeover in '14 and the Belgian’s "attempts to sell to an Australian consortium have stalled." Supporters’ group the Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet has "led creative protests against the billionaire’s ownership." Duchâtelet said, "The protests of the supporters don’t really affect me, because I understand that they don’t really know me, don’t know what really happened and rely on social media and unscrupulous newspapers looking for thrills." C.A.R.D. "delivered 100 bottles of water to the club’s training ground last month" after Duchâtelet "refused to pay for academy players to drink bottled water or eat breakfast." Duchâtelet: "The football business doesn’t suit me. Too irrational. If you want to lose real money, buy a football club" (London EVENING STANDARD, 9/6).
