I doubt very much that any individual within the political realm would want to "regulate football", but there is one issue that I believe needs to be addressed in consultation with the government and parliament in the United Kingdom.
It is the issue of the Fit and Proper Persons Test (FPPT), and it was introduced following the recommendations of the previous All Party Football Group Inquiry. At the time it was introduced it fulfilled the criteria that many believed was needed to protect football clubs from people who were not necessarily concerned with the long-term interests of a club. As the then chairman of the Football Association (FA), Lord Triesman, said in his evidence to the Inquiry, "clubs should be owned by people who embrace the history and the values of football, and who want to see the clubs succeed".
I happen to concur with investigative football journalist, David Conn, who took the point further stating, "so we need to deal with the broader issues about their, [new owners'] credibility". Do they understand the game? Do they understand the history of the clubs? Do they understand the "duties and responsibilities that come along with being in charge of these institutions?"
The recent purchase of Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a case in point that I would like to use as an example.
VENKY’S and ROVER'S BOSS Anuradha J Desai
The poultry giant Venky's, completed it's takeover of Blackburn Rovers becoming the first Indian company to own a Premier League Club. They established a new British subsidiary called Venky's London Limited and paid £23m for a 99.9% stake in the club and said they would make an unconditional offer for the remaining shares. The club however, still to date has an outstanding debt of £21m according to the last full-year results. But the Indian company's managing director, Venkatesh Rao, previously valued the takeover at £46m, which is close to the combined value of the shares and debt.
My concern is what Venky's chairperson Anuradha J Desai, said in October that the company was buying Blackburn to "to promote it's image overseas". The question begs to be asked, whose image, Blackburn's or Venky's London Limited? I find her statement to be politically uncorrect. The only contractural committments they agreed to as part of the "takeover deal to be included were not to change the name of the Jack Walker Stand and to maintain the club's principal activity as a professional football club". The issue for me is "who owns a football club is not about where a person is from but what their intentions are and why they wish to purchase a football club". Anuradha J Desai, I believe she answered the issue for me in her statement made to THE GUARDIAN, on the 19th November, 2010 and in my opening paragraph above.
Anuradha J. Desai,
Chairperson, VH Group.Mrs. Desai, is the chairperson of the flagship Company, The VH Group. With over 30 years of experience in the poultry industry, her dynamic and capable leadership has propelled the Group to unprecedented success nationally & globally in a span of 30 years. As a Chairperson of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee, she has played a significant role in the quantum leap of egg production, consumption & export in the country. She is the first woman to be elected as President of World Poultry Science Association (IB) for 4 years from 1996...Her Directorship profile.
Venky's Corporate Governance Code of Conduct opening statement says, "The vision of Late Dr. B. V. Rao the founder of Venky’s (India) Limited and V.H. Group as a whole, was to bring about a technological revolution to poultry activity in India and thus put India in a number one position in the world poultry map". For me the key words here are, "put India in a number one position in the world poulty map"...I will go so far as to state that the purchase of Blackburn Rovers was in fact a mere vehicle for Venky's to establish themselves in the United Kingdom and to add to their portfolio in the POULTRY GLOBAL INDUSTRY!
As you can see this is a map of Venky's GLOBAL OPERATIONS and surprise! surprise! prior to the Blackburn Rover purchase, Venky's DOES NOT have a POULTRY OPERATION in the UNITED KINGDOM...TILL NOW!
I believe that the current criteria used "does not go far enough to protect English Football Clubs from being subject to takeovers that are not in their best interests and in some cases are used as a ruse to gain entry into the United Kingdom market OR short-cutting without going through the official process for setting up an operation and all that is required.
This is a statement Anuradha J Desai told Indian newspaper The Economic Times...on the 7th October, 2010.
It is the issue of the Fit and Proper Persons Test (FPPT), and it was introduced following the recommendations of the previous All Party Football Group Inquiry. At the time it was introduced it fulfilled the criteria that many believed was needed to protect football clubs from people who were not necessarily concerned with the long-term interests of a club. As the then chairman of the Football Association (FA), Lord Triesman, said in his evidence to the Inquiry, "clubs should be owned by people who embrace the history and the values of football, and who want to see the clubs succeed".
I happen to concur with investigative football journalist, David Conn, who took the point further stating, "so we need to deal with the broader issues about their, [new owners'] credibility". Do they understand the game? Do they understand the history of the clubs? Do they understand the "duties and responsibilities that come along with being in charge of these institutions?"
The recent purchase of Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a case in point that I would like to use as an example.
VENKY’S and ROVER'S BOSS Anuradha J Desai
The poultry giant Venky's, completed it's takeover of Blackburn Rovers becoming the first Indian company to own a Premier League Club. They established a new British subsidiary called Venky's London Limited and paid £23m for a 99.9% stake in the club and said they would make an unconditional offer for the remaining shares. The club however, still to date has an outstanding debt of £21m according to the last full-year results. But the Indian company's managing director, Venkatesh Rao, previously valued the takeover at £46m, which is close to the combined value of the shares and debt.
My concern is what Venky's chairperson Anuradha J Desai, said in October that the company was buying Blackburn to "to promote it's image overseas". The question begs to be asked, whose image, Blackburn's or Venky's London Limited? I find her statement to be politically uncorrect. The only contractural committments they agreed to as part of the "takeover deal to be included were not to change the name of the Jack Walker Stand and to maintain the club's principal activity as a professional football club". The issue for me is "who owns a football club is not about where a person is from but what their intentions are and why they wish to purchase a football club". Anuradha J Desai, I believe she answered the issue for me in her statement made to THE GUARDIAN, on the 19th November, 2010 and in my opening paragraph above.
Anuradha J. Desai,
Chairperson, VH Group.Mrs. Desai, is the chairperson of the flagship Company, The VH Group. With over 30 years of experience in the poultry industry, her dynamic and capable leadership has propelled the Group to unprecedented success nationally & globally in a span of 30 years. As a Chairperson of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee, she has played a significant role in the quantum leap of egg production, consumption & export in the country. She is the first woman to be elected as President of World Poultry Science Association (IB) for 4 years from 1996...Her Directorship profile.
Venky's Corporate Governance Code of Conduct opening statement says, "The vision of Late Dr. B. V. Rao the founder of Venky’s (India) Limited and V.H. Group as a whole, was to bring about a technological revolution to poultry activity in India and thus put India in a number one position in the world poultry map". For me the key words here are, "put India in a number one position in the world poulty map"...I will go so far as to state that the purchase of Blackburn Rovers was in fact a mere vehicle for Venky's to establish themselves in the United Kingdom and to add to their portfolio in the POULTRY GLOBAL INDUSTRY!
As you can see this is a map of Venky's GLOBAL OPERATIONS and surprise! surprise! prior to the Blackburn Rover purchase, Venky's DOES NOT have a POULTRY OPERATION in the UNITED KINGDOM...TILL NOW!
I believe that the current criteria used "does not go far enough to protect English Football Clubs from being subject to takeovers that are not in their best interests and in some cases are used as a ruse to gain entry into the United Kingdom market OR short-cutting without going through the official process for setting up an operation and all that is required.
This is a statement Anuradha J Desai told Indian newspaper The Economic Times...on the 7th October, 2010.
"Football is a global craze and as the V.H. Group globalizes, setting up feed plants and hatcheries around the world, we believe we can benefit from being owners of a major football club," Desai said. "It will help build our brand."
Suitability of ownership needs to be defined and should be agreed to in coordination with the relevant stakeholders. Football clubs are national and cultural assets that must be protected to ensure their long-term success and survival.
Football journalist, Charles Sale's statement, "There should be a proper body to do it...We need a proper body to investigate takeovers. We believe it necessary that an independant body from the Premier League, Football League and[government official], take control of the Fit and Proper Persons Test to avoid any possible conflict of interest". I have added a government official, as I believe given the security issues facing the United Kingdom (Terrorist attacks) as well as other nations, facing the same security matters-It pays to be safe rather than sorry later.
I believe a recommendation was made by the All Party Parliamentary Football Group Inquiry that an "adjudication of the Fit and Proper Persons Test (FPPT), was to be put under the auspices of the Football Regulatory Authority to create a unified process, under an independent body. If it were then I will state without fear of contradiction, in the case of the Venky's takeover of Blackburn Rovers...Due Diligence was NOT acted upon in a thorough manner.
How can a Premier league Football Club, be sold to a family, whose chairperson has no idea at all about the most 'BEAUTIFUL GAME TO GRACE OUR GLOBAL ESTATE' and is obviously only conversant in the EGG INDUSTRY! I will also add, the Venky family achieved their GOAL and it was'nt INTO THE BACK OF A NET EITHER...They are now, compliments of a Premier League Football Club, established in the UNITED KINGDOM.
Well done to her and her family and more fool you...whoever allowed these EGG FARMERS TO LAY THEIR INDIAN EGGS IN YOUR BACKYARD!
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