Post by QPR Report on Oct 7, 2009 6:20:38 GMT
The Guardian
Anwar Shafi: I have nothing to do with Notts County• Pakistani businessman denies being club's backer
• Says statement on official website not made by him
Buzz up!
Declan Walsh in Islamabad and Matt Scott The Guardian, Wednesday 7 October 2009
The mystery over Notts County's ownership deepened last night when Anwar Shafi, who Qadbak had tried to recruit to become involved with the company, said that he had nothing to do with Notts County.
A press release on the League Two club's website 10 days ago attributed comments to an Anwar Shafi confirming the "significant holding" of the Shafi and Hyat families in the Qadbak investment trust that owns the club. But Shafi told the Guardian yesterday: "It's not me. This statement was not made by me. I have no investment of any sort in Qadbak. I have no role in the club."
Shafi explained that representatives for Qadbak have attempted in recent weeks to recruit him "with a view to employment as a spokesperson or with an ambassadorial role" but that he had turned them down.
Shafi, who runs a small factory manufacturing paving stones near Islamabad, said he travelled to Bahrain in early September to meet a company representative, whom he declined to name. Later in London he talked briefly to Russell King, a key representative of Qadbak who, after making senior appointments at Meadow Lane, is living in the Gulf state.
Despite being offered millions of dollars in share options to become a spokesman for Qadbak and take on some ambassadorial dutiesShafi said he decided not to take "any role with Qadbak or any related entity", did not sign the contract he was given, and gave no authorisation for his name to be used on the Notts County statement. "I was shocked. I learned of it through a friend who found it on the internet four days later," he said. Shafi laughed at the description of the Shafi and Hyat families as fabulously rich with extensive international business interests. "We are prominent families of the Indian sub-continent, and specifically Punjab," he said. "But we are not tycoons, not even in Pakistan."
County's statement, made on 27 September as the club said "confusion and misplaced allegations" had forced it to "reveal" Qadbak's backers, said the Shafi and Hyat families were "key members". It talked about the families' history, citing the politicians Sir Sikander Hyat and Nawab Sir Liaquat Hyat, both long dead, and quoted Shafi as saying: "The families are very pleased with the diversified range of assets we have invested in."
It added that the families had "extensive business interests throughout the Middle East, Japan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan with real estate investments in Europe, the Middle East and Asia".
The news comes as the Football League board meets to examine the controversial takeover by Qadbak, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands and claims to control £100bn in assets. The new owners have yet to pass the league's fit and proper persons hurdle.
Shafi said he believes he is the man supposedly quoted in the press release. Sir Sikander Hyat, who died in 1942, was a brother of his great-great grandfather, so he is related to both the families. He was in receipt of an offer from Qadbak and had at the time the statement was issued not turned the offer down. He only did so finally once he had heard that the statement had been issued.
Notts County yesterday declined to comment on any of the issues raised by Shafi, but instead issued a statement purporting to be on behalf of the Hyat/Shafi Family Trust and its head, Sardar Hyat. It said that the trust: "Condemns any attempt to interpret their wish to continue to conduct their business affairs with discretion and privacy as in some way hallmarked by an intention to deceive the public as to the nature of the underlying interests in the family trust and the companies in its ownership. The family are well aware of the operations of Qadbak and its interest in Notts County Football Club and have never sought to conceal that interest from anyone."
Since taking control of Notts County, Qadbak has wiped out its £1m debts, hired Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football, and promised to propel the club into the Championship within five years.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/07/notts-county-ownership-qadbak-league-two
Anwar Shafi: I have nothing to do with Notts County• Pakistani businessman denies being club's backer
• Says statement on official website not made by him
Buzz up!
Declan Walsh in Islamabad and Matt Scott The Guardian, Wednesday 7 October 2009
The mystery over Notts County's ownership deepened last night when Anwar Shafi, who Qadbak had tried to recruit to become involved with the company, said that he had nothing to do with Notts County.
A press release on the League Two club's website 10 days ago attributed comments to an Anwar Shafi confirming the "significant holding" of the Shafi and Hyat families in the Qadbak investment trust that owns the club. But Shafi told the Guardian yesterday: "It's not me. This statement was not made by me. I have no investment of any sort in Qadbak. I have no role in the club."
Shafi explained that representatives for Qadbak have attempted in recent weeks to recruit him "with a view to employment as a spokesperson or with an ambassadorial role" but that he had turned them down.
Shafi, who runs a small factory manufacturing paving stones near Islamabad, said he travelled to Bahrain in early September to meet a company representative, whom he declined to name. Later in London he talked briefly to Russell King, a key representative of Qadbak who, after making senior appointments at Meadow Lane, is living in the Gulf state.
Despite being offered millions of dollars in share options to become a spokesman for Qadbak and take on some ambassadorial dutiesShafi said he decided not to take "any role with Qadbak or any related entity", did not sign the contract he was given, and gave no authorisation for his name to be used on the Notts County statement. "I was shocked. I learned of it through a friend who found it on the internet four days later," he said. Shafi laughed at the description of the Shafi and Hyat families as fabulously rich with extensive international business interests. "We are prominent families of the Indian sub-continent, and specifically Punjab," he said. "But we are not tycoons, not even in Pakistan."
County's statement, made on 27 September as the club said "confusion and misplaced allegations" had forced it to "reveal" Qadbak's backers, said the Shafi and Hyat families were "key members". It talked about the families' history, citing the politicians Sir Sikander Hyat and Nawab Sir Liaquat Hyat, both long dead, and quoted Shafi as saying: "The families are very pleased with the diversified range of assets we have invested in."
It added that the families had "extensive business interests throughout the Middle East, Japan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan with real estate investments in Europe, the Middle East and Asia".
The news comes as the Football League board meets to examine the controversial takeover by Qadbak, which is registered in the British Virgin Islands and claims to control £100bn in assets. The new owners have yet to pass the league's fit and proper persons hurdle.
Shafi said he believes he is the man supposedly quoted in the press release. Sir Sikander Hyat, who died in 1942, was a brother of his great-great grandfather, so he is related to both the families. He was in receipt of an offer from Qadbak and had at the time the statement was issued not turned the offer down. He only did so finally once he had heard that the statement had been issued.
Notts County yesterday declined to comment on any of the issues raised by Shafi, but instead issued a statement purporting to be on behalf of the Hyat/Shafi Family Trust and its head, Sardar Hyat. It said that the trust: "Condemns any attempt to interpret their wish to continue to conduct their business affairs with discretion and privacy as in some way hallmarked by an intention to deceive the public as to the nature of the underlying interests in the family trust and the companies in its ownership. The family are well aware of the operations of Qadbak and its interest in Notts County Football Club and have never sought to conceal that interest from anyone."
Since taking control of Notts County, Qadbak has wiped out its £1m debts, hired Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football, and promised to propel the club into the Championship within five years.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/07/notts-county-ownership-qadbak-league-two