by police this morning
Just saw that. Newcastle were raided too so Iâd say the Boumsong deal might not be squeaky clean as always suspected. Maybe Fergusonâs transfers to/from Newcastle are being investigated too: all have Souness as the common factor.
âThe huns raided by fingal ravenâ is the topic heading. Iâll have some fun with this when I have time.
This is hardly surprising.
Boumsong to Rangers on a Bosman and then a matter of months later heâs gone to Newcastle for 8m.
Common denominator and link between the clubs is Souness.
Itâs about time The Huns were brought to book for their centuries of corruption.
Newcastle bought Boumsong from Rangers.
Newcastle bought Amdy Faye from Portsmouth.
Graeme Souness was manager of Newcastle when both deals were done.
Willie McKay was the agent to both players.
Post edited by: therock67, at: 2007/07/16 19:41
Hilarious statement from the Rangers Supportersâ Trust:
Tuesday, 17th July 2007
The facts surrounding Rangers Football Clubâs involvement in the so called corruption investigations at present remain unclear. The Rangers Supportersâ trust would like to remind press agencies that it is their duty to report facts, rather than speculate on what may or may not have happened. The RST are disappointed by media coverage implying that the club was directly involved in this investigation. A search warrant was served and executed on Ibrox by Strathclyde Police and that in no way implicates Rangers FC in this investigation. Rangers FC, or its employees cannot be held responsible for the conduct of agents acting for the club, or on their behalf. Although paid by the club itself, these people act completely independently and are rewarded handsomely for their services.
However, this morning, yet again we have the villification and damning of the club and its supporters from dark elements within the media. The RST have met with club officials urging them to make a statement on the matter and defend this Institution. We call on The metropolitan Police and Strathclyde Police to make all papers on the case available to RST legal representatives for further clarification.
The RST would like to remind Sir David Murray, that The Rangers fans own this great club - his name may be on all title deeds, but it is the fans that ultimately own this great club.
Couple of points:
- The club themselves admitted that they are directly involved in the investigation - whether theyâre a guilty party or not is not known yet but of course theyâre involved in the investigation
- Of course Rangers and its employees can be held responsible for agents acting for the club. Thatâs what they pay them for.
- They want the police to hand over all their documents on the case to the RST!!! Are they insane?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/07/17/too_much_money_has_corrupted_a.html
Too much money has corrupted a great and decent game
The huge sums of cash so recently injected into football make it hard to govern the game legitimately.
David Conn
July 17, 2007 1:31 AM
We do not know if anybody will be charged at the end of the investigation into alleged corruption that saw police raid three British clubs yesterday, but the drama itself, weeks before the start of the Premier Leagueâs richest season yet, roared one conclusion: something is rotten in the state of football. The police action is separate from, but follows, Questâs final report into allegations of âbungsâ in the Premier League; Lord Stevensâ inquiry refused to âsign offâ 17 transfers, including one understood to be the subject of a police investigation.
That came after Questâs first report, which was widely condemned as a whitewash because it âclearedâ 95% of the transfers but was damning in its criticism of the way clubs did their business, including, famously, three who did not know what the rules were. Sources close to that investigation said then that they had referred some of their findings to the police and tax authorities.
The Premier League, Football Association and Football League argue with some justification that they have addressed many of the problems of governance that come with being the national game and a global TV phenomenon. If the Quest investigation, now being handed to the FA, does finally unearth wrongdoing, terrible justice is promised against transgressors.
New regulations mean players must pay agents directly, which the agents hate because it rips up the previous arrangement whereby clubs paid their huge fees. Deals between clubs and the sons of managers or directors are also to be outlawed after years in which football people huffed at the very suggestion that such deals involved a conflict of interest rather than a spot of agreeable nepotism. All payments to agents have to be made through the FA, which has promised to make its compliance department feared rather than jeered.
Yet most fans will view the raids as more evidence that the unholy amounts of money in football are not well managed or policed and are banked by people who do not deserve them. The football authorities have reacted to years of scandals by belatedly introducing regulations but there is a vacuum at the heart of the gameâs governance because the FA is not truly independent, having been savaged by the big clubsâ desire for the game to be run as they want it.
So, the Glazer family take over Manchester United and there are no rules to prevent it or the 660m debts being ladled on to the club because it was a plc business open to takeover. Other clubs are bought by international businessmen and the âfit-and-proper-person testâ presents only the most basic form-filling as a qualification for entry. Thaksin Shinawatra takes over Manchester City and no rules prevent it because he has only been charged with corruption, not convicted. Men who owned shares in clubs, including Sir John Hall, who talked of building Newcastle United into a sporting totem of regional regeneration, have sold out for fortunes. The arrival of Carlos Tevez in English football should have been a cause for celebration but his name will always be associated with murk and muddle.
Although 2.7bn is about to pour into the Premier League from TV for the next three years, some clubs, such as Manchester United, raise ticket prices by 14%. When Ken Batesâs Leeds United go into administration, footballâs rules demand that millionaire players have to be paid in full whereas other creditors, including St John Ambulance, which is owed 165, can be left out of pocket.
The police did not raid three clubs to investigate that, but what happened yesterday should be another wake-up call for all who care about football and want to see it run as a great, decent sport, not as an indecent business.