Post by QPR Report on Feb 10, 2010 20:26:52 GMT
Forget any other feelings you may have about him re Spurs...
Evening Standard
Lord Sugar blames 'irresponsible' clubs for crisis that has hit football
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor
Lord Sugar today warned of looming financial disaster for the Premier League after two decades of “irresponsible” spending on players.
His comments came as Portsmouth fought for survival in the High Court to stop it making history as the first Premier League club to collapse. The case was today adjourned for one week.
West Ham is also facing a severe financial squeeze with new owners David Sullivan and David Gold demanding that manager Gianfranco Zola and the squad accept a 25 per cent pay cut to reduce the £60 million salary bill.
In the Championship, one London club, Crystal Palace, has already gone into administration and at a second, QPR, fans are in open revolt against chairman Flavio Briatore, who was booed as he left the director's box after the team's 2-1 defeat by Ipswich last night.
In his attack on the “vulnerable” finances of top flight football, the Government's enterprise czar and former Spurs chairman said: “The problem is the irresponsible manner in which all clubs are run, not just Portsmouth.”
He said that although the Premier League generates £2 billion a year, the clubs are “spending far too much money”, adding: “Ninety per cent of their income is spent on players and players' salaries, and it's something that should have been nipped in the bud years ago.”
Bottom-placed Portsmouth is the subject of a High Court winding up order over unpaid tax.
Last night Her Majesty's Revenue and Custom rejected a last-minute offer from Portsmouth to pay £3.7 million up front plus future TV income to clear the remaining £4.1 million VAT bill.
Two other clubs, Cardiff City in the Championship and Southend of League One, also face winding up orders in the High Court today.
If Portsmouth falls into administration the club will be docked 10 points, sealing its relegation from the top flight and making a financial rescue even more difficult.
Portsmouth, which has four times this season failed to pay its players on time, is only the most extreme case in a heavily indebted Premier League facing its own credit crunch.
Manchester United face a growing fan revolt over the stretched finances of its US owners, the Glazer family. More than 30,000 fans have bought scarves in the green and gold colours of the club's forerunner Newton Heath in protest.
Fans were outraged by the sacking of a long standing steward Granville Boden, who returned a confiscated “Love United, Hate Glazers” banner after a home game with Burnley last month.
Lord Sugar said that the takeover of Manchester United with borrowed money could put the club in “serious, serious trouble.”
Liverpool supporters have also demonstrated against the £237 million debt burden taken on by the Merseyside club's US owners Tom Hicks and the Gillett family.
In an interview with Radio Five Live, Lord Sugar said ordinary fans had been priced out of the Premier League by the money lavished on players' wages. He said: “It is outrageous what a man, his two kids and his wife have to pay to go and watch a football game.
“Families used to sit down and have a serious discussion about whether they could afford to buy a toaster or a new washing machine which might be a couple of hundred quid.
“Now, in that industry, you can buy toasters for 10 quid or a TV for a £100, but it costs over £200 to go and watch a football match.”
He added: “I advocated years ago taking the money that is thrown at the clubs by the television companies and sticking half of it in a trust, and only allowing half of it to be distributed to the clubs to spend on players.”
“A salary cap has got a lot of implications with European law, you can't tell people what they can earn and what they can pay.
“But the (Premier) League could have taken the £1 billion a year or whatever they get and put half a billion a year into a trust.
“That trust should be used to distribute to the clubs to improve on their grounds, improve on their training and all that type of stuff.
“It should be absolutely taboo to spend (the trust money) on players.”
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23804070-sir-alan-sugar-slams-irresponsible-football-clubs.do
Evening Standard
Lord Sugar blames 'irresponsible' clubs for crisis that has hit football
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Business Editor
Lord Sugar today warned of looming financial disaster for the Premier League after two decades of “irresponsible” spending on players.
His comments came as Portsmouth fought for survival in the High Court to stop it making history as the first Premier League club to collapse. The case was today adjourned for one week.
West Ham is also facing a severe financial squeeze with new owners David Sullivan and David Gold demanding that manager Gianfranco Zola and the squad accept a 25 per cent pay cut to reduce the £60 million salary bill.
In the Championship, one London club, Crystal Palace, has already gone into administration and at a second, QPR, fans are in open revolt against chairman Flavio Briatore, who was booed as he left the director's box after the team's 2-1 defeat by Ipswich last night.
In his attack on the “vulnerable” finances of top flight football, the Government's enterprise czar and former Spurs chairman said: “The problem is the irresponsible manner in which all clubs are run, not just Portsmouth.”
He said that although the Premier League generates £2 billion a year, the clubs are “spending far too much money”, adding: “Ninety per cent of their income is spent on players and players' salaries, and it's something that should have been nipped in the bud years ago.”
Bottom-placed Portsmouth is the subject of a High Court winding up order over unpaid tax.
Last night Her Majesty's Revenue and Custom rejected a last-minute offer from Portsmouth to pay £3.7 million up front plus future TV income to clear the remaining £4.1 million VAT bill.
Two other clubs, Cardiff City in the Championship and Southend of League One, also face winding up orders in the High Court today.
If Portsmouth falls into administration the club will be docked 10 points, sealing its relegation from the top flight and making a financial rescue even more difficult.
Portsmouth, which has four times this season failed to pay its players on time, is only the most extreme case in a heavily indebted Premier League facing its own credit crunch.
Manchester United face a growing fan revolt over the stretched finances of its US owners, the Glazer family. More than 30,000 fans have bought scarves in the green and gold colours of the club's forerunner Newton Heath in protest.
Fans were outraged by the sacking of a long standing steward Granville Boden, who returned a confiscated “Love United, Hate Glazers” banner after a home game with Burnley last month.
Lord Sugar said that the takeover of Manchester United with borrowed money could put the club in “serious, serious trouble.”
Liverpool supporters have also demonstrated against the £237 million debt burden taken on by the Merseyside club's US owners Tom Hicks and the Gillett family.
In an interview with Radio Five Live, Lord Sugar said ordinary fans had been priced out of the Premier League by the money lavished on players' wages. He said: “It is outrageous what a man, his two kids and his wife have to pay to go and watch a football game.
“Families used to sit down and have a serious discussion about whether they could afford to buy a toaster or a new washing machine which might be a couple of hundred quid.
“Now, in that industry, you can buy toasters for 10 quid or a TV for a £100, but it costs over £200 to go and watch a football match.”
He added: “I advocated years ago taking the money that is thrown at the clubs by the television companies and sticking half of it in a trust, and only allowing half of it to be distributed to the clubs to spend on players.”
“A salary cap has got a lot of implications with European law, you can't tell people what they can earn and what they can pay.
“But the (Premier) League could have taken the £1 billion a year or whatever they get and put half a billion a year into a trust.
“That trust should be used to distribute to the clubs to improve on their grounds, improve on their training and all that type of stuff.
“It should be absolutely taboo to spend (the trust money) on players.”
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23804070-sir-alan-sugar-slams-irresponsible-football-clubs.do
