George Peat trying to settle Celtic argument

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George Peat trying to settle Celtic argument An olive branch to try and resolve the problem between Celtic and the Scottish Football Association was offered last night. The president of the SFA George Peat that the difference between the SFA and Celtic are not the war some say, the reality is much different. He met with the chief executive of Celtic, Peter Lawwell and the Celtic CE is in full support of the plan Stewart Regan, our chief executive is driving, he said.

The Celtic manager, Neil Lennon also received words of support from Peat as well. There are fluctuations in football fortunes that continue to be a part of the game and so is an occasional visit to the sixth floor at Hampden Park but delivery of suspicions packages, death threats and the necessity for around the clock protection is most certainly not, expressed Peat.

Two managers were also in agreement when Lennon and Craig Brown agreed that the dismissal of a player for committing a foul trying to prevent a goal scoring opportunity has to be looked at. Andrew Considine brought down Gary Hooper and was sent off after having suffered the same outcome for a foul in a league match in February on Scott Brown.

Even though a penalty was saved by Jamie Langfield it was almost inevitable Celtic’s win when Aberdeen was reduced to 10 men. It was quite damaging for Aberdeen psychologically. The rule has to be looked because if a player makes a genuine attempt and is beaten, then of course a penalty should be called but a red car is harsh punishment enough.

The majority of managers want to see 11 versus 11 when at all possible. The mandatory sending off needs to be looked at because you lose the player for the game and that same player is lost for the following game and all for a genuine attempt to challenge for the ball.

Leeds United football club ownership secrecy rumbles on

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Leeds United football club ownership secrecy rumbles on It was all over the front pages four years ago, when the chairman put it into administration but not much has been heard since. The thing is, even the fans aren’t sure who owns Leeds United football club. The club was in debt to the tune of £35m when Ken Bates and his fellow directors put the club into the hands of the administrators.

The question of its ownership has even made it’s way to the House of Commons, where the Select Committee on Culture Media and Sport has repeatedly asked who is the owner. The committee clearly think it’s a cause for concern that the clubs supporters. Who shell out their hard-earned cash; don’t know who their money is going to.

The C.E of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, yesterday told the enquiry that if the team managed by Simon Grayson were to be promoted to the top flight, their rules need better disclosure as to the actual ownership than there is at present.

The Football League asked Leeds only last year to reveal who actually owned it. Bates, who is now living in Monaco, says that he hasn’t any connection with the owners, they have merely entrusted the day to day running of the club to him. The League rules at the time didn’t require its clubs to openly announce who owned them, so left it at that.

The League however, has since taken on the same rules as the Premiership. Leeds has since announced on their website that the club is owned via 3 trusts, which are administrated via Zurich, and no individual owns over 10%. As this is the case, they say they don’t have to name any of the individuals involved.

No one seems to know who owns Leeds United

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No one seems to know who owns Leeds United Sleeping football giant, Leeds United Football Club, may be at the centre of a storm, after it was revealed that no-one seems to know the identities of the people who actually own the club. A similar affliction recently affected Notts County Football Club. Leeds are currently in the Championship, although they sank as low as League 1, having previously been a UEFA Champions League semi-finalist in 2001. They imploded after running into financial difficulties.

During the recent Government inquiry regarding the governance of football, the Chief Executive of the club, Shaun Harvey told the club that neither he nor chairman Ken Bates knew who the beneficiaries of FSF, the trust that owns the club, were. FSF is a holding company, registered in the West Indies, obviously for tax reasons, and FSF is, in itself, owned by three separate trusts.

Shaun Harvey did not believe that the ownership of the club was an issue, adding that this type of set-up was common in a lot of industries and not just football. There was no indication that the trust was prepared to walk away from the club, however, the recent events at Notts County should provide a warning note. During the inquiry, Member of Parliament Damien Collins expressed a different view, that lack of transparency with the ownership was a legitimate concern.

The ownership of English football clubs, in particular, has come under the spotlight, after the increasing number of high-profile takeovers of top and even not-so-top clubs by foreign owners. UEFA is also currently trying to clamp down on clubs that spend beyond their means, as the footballing body feels that this gives clubs an unfair advantage.

Mohammed al-Fayed still has cash for football

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Mohammed al-Fayed still has cash for football Mohammed al-Fayed, the Chairman of Fulham Football Club, will continue to fund the Premier League side although he has suffered £16.9m loss for the past financial year.

Revenues of £12.5m were earned by the London based side after reaching the European League final last season, however losses increased by £10m due to new contracts and higher wages.

Mr al-Fayed has said that his priority is the continued success of the Club and its eventual financial self reliance.  He will continue to make funds available to achieve these goals. Fulham has had Mr al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, at the helm since 1997 and has steered the club through most of its successful times.

An amount of £160m in funding is thought to have been provided by Mr al-Fayed to the West London club. He has made it clear that he is totally committed to Fulham Football Club by providing investment funds available to them.

Japan pushing forward with international friendly matches

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Japan pushing forward with international friendly matches Despite an earthquake and a Tsunami severely damaging many parts of the country, Japan is still hoping to stage two soccer international friendly matches in March even though many thousands are feared dead after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake last Friday.

Kozo Tashima, Japan Football Association, General Secretary, has stated that more than ever it would mean a lot and send a message to the world if the country could stage the games which are still more than two weeks away, when Japan plays Montenegro on the 25th March at Shizuoka Stadium near Tokyo and New Zealand on the 29th March.

He has said that that we need to let people know that, regardless of the images that we see on CNN, Tokyo is okay and functional and order is being restored in the City.  The world probably does not have an accurate view of the situation at present and the Japanese football community, as well as the entire Japanese sports world, can assist in returning the country to normality.

On Monday, however, an announcement was made, postponing all domestic matches set down for March.  The football season will continue into July.

The Chairman of the J.League, Kazumi Ohigashi, has said that the situation is serious at present, with aftershocks still continuing. As they are unable to guarantee complete safety at the stadiums the J.League has decided to cancel all J1, J2 and NABISCO Cup matches for March.

Fixtures for J.League, NABISCO Cup are stretched and games will need to be played in July. These arrangements could affect Japanese plans to compete in the Copa America tournament as a guest in South America later this year.