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The Guardian
04-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Chelsea fans grapple with the art of omission by Boehly's trainee regime
'The one thing I've learned about the British press is they exaggerate a lot and leave stuff out.' The words of Todd Boehly there, the jaw-droppingly handsome Chelsea chair whose name was being sung so passionately by fans outside Stamford Bridge last week. 'We want Boehly ! We want Boehly !' they sang in their thousands, alongside a sea of banners bearing the words 'BOEHLY ' and 'CLEARLAKE & BLUECO '. Clearly Chelsea fans cannot get enough of their hybrid-leadership apparat, and frankly who can blame them when their leaders are in this vein of form? Perhaps, as a functional human with a life, you missed Boehly's appearance at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday, where he treated the audience to a little of the privileged wisdom he has accumulated during his 33 months in the game. 'Three years isn't a lot of time,' he said, although clearly more than enough for the three permanent managers discarded in that period. 'If you look at contracts in football, a seven-year contract is really a five-year contract,' he observed with a flash of insight that probably would feel startling to anyone who hadn't been following football before 2022. Elsewhere, he explained away Chelsea's lack of options up front with the truism that 'you can't get a striker from the grocery store'. Say what you like about the London School of Economics, Citibank and Credit Suisse: they do not breed fools. For all this, Chelsea's fans – at least those who turned out last Tuesday before the visit of Southampton – remain bafflingly lacking in gratitude towards a regime that has bestowed them zero trophies, no Champions League qualification, one League Cup final, more than £1bn spent on transfers, one ownership feud and the first ticket price rises in 13 years. Guys: do you not realise Todd and Behdad Eghbali have been going on a learning journey here? Do you not realise how hard it is to spend £1bn in an era of profit and sustainability rules? And obviously it is worth saying this disgruntlement is in part tied to performances on the pitch, a rotten post-Christmas run that has put Enzo Maresca's side out of the title race and left them wondering what purpose, exactly, this juddering investment vehicle is meant to serve. Win the Conference League, sign well in the summer, assemble an early tilt at the 2025-26 title, and inevitably the protests will subside. If anything, though, this only underlines the fragility of the contract between ownership and fanbase. A club that is only ever six bad results away from open revolt is not – by the most generous definition – a healthy or functional club. Rather, what appears to have taken hold here is a kind of endemic sickness, a severe case of Long Chelsea, a disconnect and a division that feels permanent, or at least unsustainable. These are issues that are not strictly limited to Chelsea. Spurs fans, Reading fans and Sheffield Wednesday fans have all taken to the streets in the past few weeks to protest against their boards. Indeed, if you extend the timeline to the past few years, the vast majority of English league clubs have probably seen some kind of direct action against their ownership. This is, by any measure, an era of unprecedented unrest and revulsion within English football, and while the triggers and causes may vary there is a common thread running through all of it. Ironically, you could glimpse this in Boehly's glib response to the Chelsea protests. 'The sooner you learn you won't keep all the people happy all the time, that brings freedom. So you don't have to live with their words. People say different things, change their minds all the time. You can't turn left and then right every three minutes.' Which, if nothing else, is pretty rich coming from the guy who signed Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly before pivoting abruptly to a strategy of signing every imaginable teenager in world football. But Boehly's words are still instructive, largely because of his capricious habit of saying out loud the part that most owners are happy to keep quiet. Namely, that the fans are essentially the bottom-feeders of the enterprise, with the implication that anyone disgruntled at the direction of travel is simply a paying customer welcome to take their business anywhere else. Why bother listening to them when you could simply hire experts like Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, or anyone wearing a Brighton tracksuit? Perhaps the only point at which Boehly spoke with anything approaching genuine feeling was when he started talking about the power of Premier League football as a streaming product, an infinite scroll of Netflix content, like those soap dispensers you find in budget hotels that claim to be hand wash, body wash, shampoo and conditioner all in one. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Boehly has made no secret of his intention to harness the power of Chelsea's global fanbase, to turn them into a fungible digital product that just so happens to play in west London sometimes. Where does the match-going fan sit in this vision? To what extent is Chelsea still a local club, a community good? Only as a slogan to put on a T-shirt, a nice yarn to spin the tourists, an adornment to the productbut never the product itself. Of course the Chelsea protesters relinquished a lot of goodwill among rival fans when they started singing for the return of Roman Abramovich. But in wild and wayward times the silent strongman – be it the oligarch or the sovereign wealth fund – will always carry a powerful nostalgic appeal, an invocation of simpler, more patriarchal times. It is up to the rest of football to provide a more compelling vision of ownership, one in which everyone has a stake, in which fans have genuine ownership of their club, a say in decisions, a seat at the table. Until this happens, fans will remain the last puppy at the trough: simply another lever to pull, simply another resource to be squeezed, an asset to be sweated for the enrichment of others. 'You realise how important the fans are to the team,' Boehly said last week. Perhaps, on reflection, the British press are not the only ones with a talent for omission.
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
San Francisco 49ers owners set to complete Rangers takeover deal
A takeover deal for Rangers is set to be completed, with the owners of the San Francisco 49ers on track to acquire a majority stake in the Glasgow giants, according to reports. The news follows months of discussion around a proposed investment and comes at a delicate time for the club, with Rangers 16 points behind Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership but about to face Fenerbahce in a Europa League last-16 tie. Sky Sports have reported that 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the NFL franchise owners, have agreed in principle a deal to buy a minimum 51% of shares in the club, with due diligence now to begin on the offer. Dave King, the largest shareholder at Rangers, would be expected to sell his stake in any arrangement, but a number of other investors are also reported as being interested in selling up. 49ers Enterprises also include Leeds United in the ownership portfolio, with its president, Paraag Marathe, serving as chair at Elland Road. Marathe is said to be working alongside Andrew Cavenagh, the executive chair of health insurance company ParetoHealth, to finance the deal. Speaking last week at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, Marathe did not comment on any Rangers acquisition but acknowledged 49ers Enterprises were looking at further investments. 'I can't really comment on whatever rumours might be out there,' Marathe said. 'But we are looking at other opportunities. It is doable to replicate the passion [of Leeds United]. What we are looking for is clubs with the right bones, history of success and potential for growth.' Concerns have been raised over the possibility of Rangers becoming a feeder club for Leeds if the deal went through. Parathe said such an arrangement would not be considered by his group. 'Leeds United stands alone, if we were to look at another club that would stand alone,' he insisted. 'What you can share and do on the sporting side, we haven't looked at one club as a feeder club. Just like there is to love all of your children, there's enough room in your heart to love all your sports properties.' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Rangers have been approached for comment.
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Guardiola declines to comment on Tebas complaint about City's finances
MANCHESTER, England, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola declined to answer questions on Friday about a complaint made to the European Commission by the head of Spain's La Liga accusing the Premier League champions of breaching financial rules. Guardiola was asked repeatedly about comments from La Liga President Javier Tebas as the City boss addressed the media on Friday ahead of this weekend's FA Cup 5th round match at home to second-tier Plymouth Argyle and three times answered: "Next." Tebas, who has been critical of City in the past, said on Thursday that he had filed a complaint in 2023 accusing the club of causing a "serious distortion in the internal market of the European Union." Tebas said he believes Abu Dhabi-owned City have hidden costs using outside companies to perform services. "You can't help but think this is to skirt the rules," Tebas told a news conference at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London. "So we have denounced it to the European Union because even though this is an English club, the European Union oversees any commercial activity inside Europe." Guardiola, whose club are also awaiting a verdict on charges of 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, was asked why City are a target for complaints like those from Tebas. "I don't know," he said. "It happened in the past with UEFA and in a few weeks it'll happen in the Premier League, the sentence (for the 115 charges), right? We wait, and after we talk." City declined to comment on Tebas's remarks but have always denied any wrongdoing. GIANT KILLERS While Plymouth are ranked 38 places below City in England's football pyramid, Guardiola is not taking the south-coast team lightly. They upset visiting Premier League leaders Liverpool 1-0 in the fourth round in a classic FA Cup giant-killing. "(Plymouth) is not unknown, if you are able to beat the best team in the country this season Liverpool," Guardiola said. "These types of games we know they are tricky because these types of teams, what they do, they do really well," he added. "When they can apply it and do better (at it) than we want to do then you are in trouble." Centre-back Vitor Reis could feature in Saturday's game, Guardiola said, after the Brazilian made his City debut in their 2-1 win at third-tier Leyton Orient in the FA Cup fourth round. "He is young, came from Brazil, but an incredibly focused central defender," Guardiola said. "Some have physicality, others are clever, and he is one of those. He came for a long time, not a short period. We are pleased with the potential he has." Guardiola is hopeful Norwegian winger Oscar Bobb, who has been sidelined since August with a leg fracture, will feature in a game soon. "He is getting better, training yesterday and today as well," the manager said. "It has been longer than we expected, but hopefully he can finish and help us in the last part of the season. "We want to help him desperately. It' been a tough period for him but always there is light at the end of the tunnel, this is life and especially in sport."
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European Commission confirms Spanish league complaint against Man City over financial dealings
LONDON (AP) — The European Commission confirmed Friday that it received a complaint from the Spanish soccer league accusing defending Premier League champion Manchester City of breaching financial rules. La Liga President Javier Tebas stepped up his attacks against City on Thursday when he revealed he had filed the complaint in 2023 and accused the Abu Dhabi-backed club of causing a 'serious distortion in the internal market of the European Union." Tebas said he believes City has effectively hidden costs by using outside companies to perform services. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'You can´t help but think this is to skirt the rules. So we have denounced it to the European Union because even though this is an English club, the European Union oversees any commercial activity inside Europe," he told a news conference at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. City, which is also awaiting the verdict on charges of more than 100 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, denied the allegation. A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed to The Associated Press that it had received the Spanish league's complaint, but could not comment on any ongoing assessment. Tebas' complaint is related to regulations on foreign subsidies from non-EU states that could distort the bloc's internal market. City became one of the richest soccer teams in the world when bought by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in 2008 and has gone on to dominate English soccer, winning eight Premier League titles and the Champions League among a slew of trophies in that time. But it has faced regular allegations about its accounts in regard to Financial Fair Play regulations in Europe and England. City was accused by the league in February 2023 of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18. During that time it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne and won three league titles — in 2012, 2014 and 2018. City denies those charges. Tebas has been heavily-critical of City in the past and previously accused the four-time defending English champion of 'irreparably harming the football industry' due to its exorbitant spending. ___ James Robson is at ___ AP soccer:
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
European Commission confirms Spanish league complaint against Man City over financial dealings
The European Commission confirmed Friday that it received a complaint from the Spanish soccer league accusing defending Premier League champion Manchester City of breaching financial rules. La Liga President Javier Tebas stepped up his attacks against City on Thursday when he revealed he had filed the complaint in 2023 and accused the Abu Dhabi-backed club of causing a 'serious distortion in the internal market of the European Union." Tebas said he believes City has effectively hidden costs by using outside companies to perform services. 'You can´t help but think this is to skirt the rules. So we have denounced it to the European Union because even though this is an English club, the European Union oversees any commercial activity inside Europe," he told a news conference at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. City, which is also awaiting the verdict on charges of more than 100 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, denied the allegation. A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed to The Associated Press that it had received the Spanish league's complaint, but could not comment on any ongoing assessment. Tebas' complaint is related to regulations on foreign subsidies from non-EU states that could distort the bloc's internal market. City became one of the richest soccer teams in the world when bought by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in 2008 and has gone on to dominate English soccer, winning eight Premier League titles and the Champions League among a slew of trophies in that time. But it has faced regular allegations about its accounts in regard to Financial Fair Play regulations in Europe and England. City was accused by the league in February 2023 of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18. During that time it spent hundreds of millions of dollars on players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne and won three league titles — in 2012, 2014 and 2018. City denies those charges. Tebas has been heavily-critical of City in the past and previously accused the four-time defending English champion of 'irreparably harming the football industry' due to its exorbitant spending. ___ James Robson is at ___
