Post by Macmoish on Aug 12, 2011 6:56:57 GMT
The Digger/Matt Scott - The Guardian
Transfer dynamics could be on the brink of change
• Third-party ownership of players could be on the rise
• Potential for match-fixing could now be high
Roberto Jiménez’s transfer last week could have consequences as far reaching as the challenge from Jean-Marc Bosman, pictured, to football’s transfer system Photograph: Gary Calton
Roberto Jiménez is far from a household name but the goalkeeper's transfer from Benfica to Real Zaragoza last week could have consequences as far reaching as Jean-Marc Bosman's challenge to football's transfer system.
Jiménez's move raised eyebrows since his new club had applied to the courts for voluntary administration in an effort to deal with a €110m (£96.5m) net debt. How could they afford to buy a €8.6m goalkeeper?
As a publicly traded company, Benfica were obliged to declare to shareholders how the insolvent purchaser would pay for the player. It turned out that Zaragoza paid €86,000 with the balance of more than €8.5m paid for by an unnamed investment fund that will retain the player's economic rights.
The Spanish daily El País has claimed that fund is Quality Sports Investment, and that according to "several sources" it is being controlled by the Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes and the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. Kenyon has confirmed to Digger that he and Mendes are acting as advisers to the fund.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by QSI: third-party player ownership is legal in the Portuguese and Spanish leagues. But the nature of the QSI investment raises a number of potentially serious regulatory challenges. It is based in the offshore jurisdiction of Jersey, meaning the identity of its investors are unknown. Digger was unable to contact QSI since it has no internet presence and its contact details have not been released. It operates from a smart, five-storey building of serviced offices without so much as a brass plate on the door to say which companies work from there.
The owners' and directors' test for football clubs is in part an effort to guarantee the integrity of the sport. QSI's intentions are no doubt honest but if players as important as goalkeepers can be owned by anonymous third parties in impenetrable offshore companies the potential for match fixing is clear. Fortunately, with its ban on third-party ownership the English game is protecting itself. But though could be an existential threat to football, Fifa appears to have taken little regulatory interest.
Ipswich in debt to owner
Like several other Championship clubs, Ipswich Town are cashflow insolvent. "We only survive because Marcus Evans can afford to put in £4m or £5m of his own money every year to keep the club afloat," said the chief executive, Simon Clegg. "That is testing on anyone's pockets, however deep they are."
Evans's pockets certainly are deep: the secondary-market ticket seller is worth £625m according to the Sunday Times Rich List, making him one of the 125 richest people in the country. But Ipswich fans should be forgiven for not tripping over themselves with gratitude to Evans. After all, the football-club company's debt stood at about £7.6m in June 2007, six months before Evans's takeover – about 73% of the club's turnover. Now, according to the most recent accounts, it has swelled to £40.9m – even when taking off the £11.6m owed to subsidiary companies the debt to turnover ratio of the club is a punishing 187.8%. Added to that are the £30.9m of loan notes that "following the acquisition of the company ... were assigned to Marcus Evans International Finance KFT. The interest rate on these loan notes is 7.29% per annum." That meant £1.9m of loan-note interest due to Evans was added to the total debt of Ipswich's group companies in the year to June 2010, taking it to £64m. Lucky those pockets are deep.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/11/transfers-roberto-jiminez-benfica-real-zaragoza
Transfer dynamics could be on the brink of change
• Third-party ownership of players could be on the rise
• Potential for match-fixing could now be high
Roberto Jiménez’s transfer last week could have consequences as far reaching as the challenge from Jean-Marc Bosman, pictured, to football’s transfer system Photograph: Gary Calton
Roberto Jiménez is far from a household name but the goalkeeper's transfer from Benfica to Real Zaragoza last week could have consequences as far reaching as Jean-Marc Bosman's challenge to football's transfer system.
Jiménez's move raised eyebrows since his new club had applied to the courts for voluntary administration in an effort to deal with a €110m (£96.5m) net debt. How could they afford to buy a €8.6m goalkeeper?
As a publicly traded company, Benfica were obliged to declare to shareholders how the insolvent purchaser would pay for the player. It turned out that Zaragoza paid €86,000 with the balance of more than €8.5m paid for by an unnamed investment fund that will retain the player's economic rights.
The Spanish daily El País has claimed that fund is Quality Sports Investment, and that according to "several sources" it is being controlled by the Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes and the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. Kenyon has confirmed to Digger that he and Mendes are acting as advisers to the fund.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by QSI: third-party player ownership is legal in the Portuguese and Spanish leagues. But the nature of the QSI investment raises a number of potentially serious regulatory challenges. It is based in the offshore jurisdiction of Jersey, meaning the identity of its investors are unknown. Digger was unable to contact QSI since it has no internet presence and its contact details have not been released. It operates from a smart, five-storey building of serviced offices without so much as a brass plate on the door to say which companies work from there.
The owners' and directors' test for football clubs is in part an effort to guarantee the integrity of the sport. QSI's intentions are no doubt honest but if players as important as goalkeepers can be owned by anonymous third parties in impenetrable offshore companies the potential for match fixing is clear. Fortunately, with its ban on third-party ownership the English game is protecting itself. But though could be an existential threat to football, Fifa appears to have taken little regulatory interest.
Ipswich in debt to owner
Like several other Championship clubs, Ipswich Town are cashflow insolvent. "We only survive because Marcus Evans can afford to put in £4m or £5m of his own money every year to keep the club afloat," said the chief executive, Simon Clegg. "That is testing on anyone's pockets, however deep they are."
Evans's pockets certainly are deep: the secondary-market ticket seller is worth £625m according to the Sunday Times Rich List, making him one of the 125 richest people in the country. But Ipswich fans should be forgiven for not tripping over themselves with gratitude to Evans. After all, the football-club company's debt stood at about £7.6m in June 2007, six months before Evans's takeover – about 73% of the club's turnover. Now, according to the most recent accounts, it has swelled to £40.9m – even when taking off the £11.6m owed to subsidiary companies the debt to turnover ratio of the club is a punishing 187.8%. Added to that are the £30.9m of loan notes that "following the acquisition of the company ... were assigned to Marcus Evans International Finance KFT. The interest rate on these loan notes is 7.29% per annum." That meant £1.9m of loan-note interest due to Evans was added to the total debt of Ipswich's group companies in the year to June 2010, taking it to £64m. Lucky those pockets are deep.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/11/transfers-roberto-jiminez-benfica-real-zaragoza