[Archived] Corruption in the domestic game

[West Yorks Rover]

Mike newell is the only person within football I can think of who has stood up and spoke out against domestic corruption in football and look what happened to him. He's now a football pariah.

I think if you want to be involved in professional football in any capacity you have to be complicit in corruption or turn a blind eye to it.

You must have that wrong Matt, listening to our media over the last few days, the UK and the US are paragons of virtue when it comes to fair play

and honest business dealings.

Btw how about George Graham for new FIFA president with Harry Redknapp as his no,2.

If they need an international agent, I know a good un who's very familiar with Switzerland.

[glen9mullan]

NDA's are invalid if wrong doing is proven, no where have you said the Police or CPS were contacted.

FIFA had been saying for years that the corruption did not exist, the FBI start looking and it's like rats jumping from a sinking ship

Think you are getting mixed up with breaking the premier league , FA rules to criminal activity ??

I don't see any criminal activity at all , therefore what would the police care that our club has been run into the ground by those out to make a quick buck ?

[1arC]

Glen you have mentioned writing a book and as I pointed out, I have a very close friend who is an amateur writer and has had 4 books published, including 2 football books. I am sure he would either Ghost write or help you out together a book, which could be fiction and drop no one in it, so to speak. One of the main charachters could be Steven and another Jeremy Sanderson. You get the drift no doubt!

[yoda]

Think you are getting mixed up with breaking the premier league , FA rules to criminal activity ??

I don't see any criminal activity at all , therefore what would the police care that our club has been run into the ground by those out to make a quick buck ?

1st point I would make is that the PL does not supersede the law.

FIFA has been under that misapprehension for years.

If there was no criminal activity (who's judgment is that ?) why present a dossier.

2nd point I would make is, have the quick bucks payments been subject to forensic inspection by an independent body.

[glen9mullan]

Glen you have mentioned writing a book and as I pointed out, I have a very close friend who is an amateur writer and has had 4 books published, including 2 football books. I am sure he would either Ghost write or help you out together a book, which could be fiction and drop no one in it, so to speak. One of the main charachters could be Steven and another Jeremy Sanderson. You get the drift no doubt!

Cheers it's something I'd consider down the line .

Right now though I'm getting on with my life as tbh I have zero interest in people who a) stood by and let this happen continually mock those who tried

Not meaning you BTW

[1arC]

Cheers it's something I'd consider down the line .

Right now though I'm getting on with my life as tbh I have zero interest in people who a) stood by and let this happen continually mock those who tried

No worries Glen, you sound cheesed off. We have had contact before by E Mail and follow each other on Twitter. I will send you a private message on Twitter, then you know who I am.

[yoda]

Cheers it's something I'd consider down the line .

Right now though I'm getting on with my life as tbh I have zero interest in people who a) stood by and let this happen continually mock those who tried

Not meaning you BTW

Wow, are the people who "stood by and did nothing" the same as the ones you say are continually mocking you?

[RevidgeBlue]

Think you are getting mixed up with breaking the premier league , FA rules to criminal activity ??

I don't see any criminal activity at all , therefore what would the police care that our club has been run into the ground by those out to make a quick buck ?

Thanks for confirming that much.

As for the rest of what you say it all appears to be unsubstantiated hearsay on the basis that you say who have witnesses who refuse to come forward so it's no surprise no-one else would take it any further on that basis.

Furthermore if your only complaint is that our Club has been run into the ground by unscrupulous individuals then that's bad luck for us in having gullible owners frankly. The authorities can't get involved because someone has run a club badly, they can only try to prevent unsuitable individuals in the sense of being criminal from taking control in the first place

[thenodrog]

Pretty sure there was criminal activity of the financial variety but that matter is between Dastardly and Muttley and the owners and tbh has nothing at all to do with the supporters.

[RevidgeBlue]

Has it not now become blindingly obvious that the game cannot be relied upon to regulate and investigate itself.

It has taken two external, independent of the game, investigative bodies to bring down the house of cards at FIFA.

Should this approach now be adopted in the domestic game.

Perhaps in hindsight it was a strategic error presenting the "dossier" to the FA/Football League for investigation.

Still I bet it is itchy bum time in far off lands and the leafy suburbs of England at the moment.

Going back to the original post and ignoring the specific case of Rovers for a moment, most commentators over the last few days have been passing the opinion that the administrators of English football are largely incompetent but "clean".

Chief among these is a bloke called Jennings who apparently wrote a book some years ago on the corruption in FIFA and has made it his life's work since to track them down. He was on the radio the other night and was a bit on the conspiracy theorist side. Whilst everyone else was hailing Blatter's resignation as a positive step, he was saying that the resignation was merely the Chief Gangster trying to engineer the succession of one of the other head gangsters.

Nevertheless even he conceded that certain Football Associations were "clean", he cited the Dutch the Germans and the English even though he thought the latter were incompetent. So whilst it is very exciting to assume that corruption is rife in every corner of the game, it may not be the case.

[Mike E]

Glen, what's to stop BRAG simply sending a copy of the dossier (or at least divulging knowledge of potential wrongdoing) to the American Embassy to perhaps inform the FBI?

Or have you done that? If not, do it. Don't ask, don't get and all that.

The number is 0207 894 0007.

[mustard]

Thing is, even if there was criminal activity going on at Rovers amongst all the other wrong-doings. Not exactly sure what anyone would expect Glen to do about it, particularly with powerful people threatening lawsuits left, right and centre.

There's been dirt on FIFA doing the rounds for years and numerous people have been aware of how corrupt they are but been unable to do anything about it. If it's taken it going this far before anything substantial has come out against FIFA, then why do people expect anyone to care enough to bring down the wrong-doers of poor, small-town Blackburn Rovers?

[philipl]

I am backing Glen 100% in what he is writing.

There are reasons for reasons why the transparency is so difficult to achieve.

This is no ego or power trip.

Frankly, people have been extremely brave as well as generous with their time and money. I am glad that at no point I did not know anything which perhaps 20 other people besides me didn't also know.

[thenodrog]

Glen, what's to stop BRAG simply sending a copy of the dossier (or at least divulging knowledge of potential wrongdoing) to the American Embassy to perhaps inform the FBI?

Or have you done that? If not, do it. Don't ask, don't get and all that.

The number is 0207 894 0007.

Why would they even bother to read it? It's nowt to do with them. Rem FIFA only came under their spotlight and the subsequent FBI investigation was initiated when the yanks discovered that the dodgy deals were being conducted in US dollars. The only reason for them to do so might be if there was mutual involvement with certain Swiss Sports Marketing companies. Here's hoping.

[West Yorks Rover]

Going back to the original post and ignoring the specific case of Rovers for a moment, most commentators over the last few days have been passing the opinion that the administrators of English football are largely incompetent but "clean".

Chief among these is a bloke called Jennings who apparently wrote a book some years ago on the corruption in FIFA and has made it his life's work since to track them down. He was on the radio the other night and was a bit on the conspiracy theorist side. Whilst everyone else was hailing Blatter's resignation as a positive step, he was saying that the resignation was merely the Chief Gangster trying to engineer the succession of one of the other head gangsters.

Nevertheless even he conceded that certain Football Associations were "clean", he cited the Dutch the Germans and the English even though he thought the latter were incompetent. So whilst it is very exciting to assume that corruption is rife in every corner of the game, it may not be the case.

Maybe Mr Jennings didn't want to end up on the scrapheap, like Mike Newell.

[Mike E]

Why would they even bother to read it? It's nowt to do with them. Rem FIFA only came under their spotlight and the subsequent FBI investigation was initiated when the yanks discovered that the dodgy deals were being conducted in US dollars. The only reason for them to do so might be if there was mutual involvement with certain Swiss Sports Marketing companies. Here's hoping.

Precisely my point (in the end) haha.

[RevidgeBlue]

Maybe Mr Jennings didn't want to end up on the scrapheap, like Mike Newell.

Judging by his interview, Mr. Jennings didn't give two hoots what he said!!.

Different argument but Mike Newell being on the scrapheap has more to do with him being a crap manager than anything he may have said imo.

[ABBEY]

I am backing Glen 100% in what he is writing.

There are reasons for reasons why the transparency is so difficult to achieve.

This is no ego or power trip.

Frankly, people have been extremely brave as well as generous with their time and money. I am glad that at no point I did not know anything which perhaps 20 other people besides me didn't also know.

Well said and seconded

Why would they even bother to read it? It's nowt to do with them. Rem FIFA only came under their spotlight and the subsequent FBI investigation was initiated when the yanks discovered that the dodgy deals were being conducted in US dollars. The only reason for them to do so might be if there was mutual involvement with certain Swiss Sports Marketing companies. Here's hoping.

and the dollar

[Exiled in Toronto]

Think you are getting mixed up with breaking the premier league , FA rules to criminal activity ??

I don't see any criminal activity at all , therefore what would the police care that our club has been run into the ground by those out to make a quick buck ?

First time I have seen this in black and white.

Puts a new slant on the discussions of the last four years. Agents, managers and players colluding to break the rules I'm sure happens everywhere and has for many years.

However, unless the money being channelled out of the club has been disclosed in individuals' tax returns, the law most certainly has been broken.

[thenodrog]

Judging by his interview, Mr. Jennings didn't give two hoots what he said!!.

Different argument but Mike Newell being on the scrapheap has more to do with him being a crap manager than anything he may have said imo.

His record, athough rather brief doesn't suggest that Simon.

[OJRovers]

First time I have seen this in black and white.

Puts a new slant on the discussions of the last four years. Agents, managers and players colluding to break the rules I'm sure happens everywhere and has for many years.

However, unless the money being channelled out of the club has been disclosed in individuals' tax returns, the law most certainly has been broken.

This is spot on. Unless you're breaking tax laws (I'm including fraudulent cross border money transfers in this) then no-one will be interested.

If the money coming into the club wasn't actually from the disclosed source, but from a different party "off the books" then that would be interesting.

[yoda]

First time I have seen this in black and white.

Puts a new slant on the discussions of the last four years. Agents, managers and players colluding to break the rules I'm sure happens everywhere and has for many years.

However, unless the money being channelled out of the club has been disclosed in individuals' tax returns, the law most certainly has been broken.

This is spot on. Unless you're breaking tax laws (I'm including fraudulent cross border money transfers in this) then no-one will be interested.

If the money coming into the club wasn't actually from the disclosed source, but from a different party "off the books" then that would be interesting.

Exactly, that is how the FBI have nailed FIFA,

[Tris]

Given the passage of time, one can only assume that the "dossier" never had anything of substance in it. We hear a lot of rhetoric about the risk, effort and expense to gather this information, but 3 years later it was unnecessary risk, wasted effort and wasted money, because absolutely nothing has come from it all. The individual requests above to be allowed into the walk-in centre to consider the evidence in confidence seem entirely reasonable to me, and I hope they are granted. Perhaps extra eyes and brains might help to find a way forward with it.

However I fear that BRAG themselves may have gathered some dirty linen along the way. Getting so close to Shebby Singh was an error, and still peddling the myth that he wasn't to blame for the ridiculous contracts handed out during his spell at Ewood is another error.

Let's face facts - when SS turned up he was a nobody from nowhere, and was desperate to boost his credibility as soon as possible. With the fans, he did that by offering an olive branch to the most vocal of the protesting fans, who took it fruit, leaves and all. That led to the cringeworthy Q&A in KGH. With the national media, he called 6-0-6, and that infamous interview was even more cringeworthy.

I wonder what the players thought when he rocked up at Brockhall with his "SS" branded training gear? It seems remarkable that at exactly the same time Shebby was turning up for training in his Rovers tracksuit, almost every senior player got an improved, extended contract - which in some cases we are still paying for.

Shortly afterwards in December 2012, BRAG unveiled the above-mentioned walk-in centre in the Blackburn Rovers Enterprise Centre, with a lovely quote from Shebby Singh :

Blackburn Rovers’ Global Advisor Shebby Singh said:

“This centre shows the commitment of the BRFC Action Group in wanting to bring the fans closer to the Club. We appreciate these efforts as we join hands to forge strength in numbers for the progress of Blackburn Rovers Football Club.” {From BRAG website}

The cheapest suites in the BREC are advertised at #257.77+VAT, so for an organization that doesn't charge members any fee or subscription, BRAG have done really well to keep it running for 2 1/2 years - that's nearly 10 grand in rent!!

Perhaps when people go in to read the dossier, they can also look over the invoices which show that BRAG pay the going rate in the Darwen End just like all the other tenants, and that nobody did them a favour when Shebby was throwing cash around like confetti.

[Tris]

Judging by his interview, Mr. Jennings didn't give two hoots what he said!!.

Although it's from last Wednesday, this Newsnight interview with Andrew Jennings is well worth hearing, it puts a lot of things into context - in fact it almost makes more sense listening to it one week further on.

Starts at 6:45 (but everthing in the first 6:45 is on the same subject).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05wxxhb/newsnight-27052015

[AllRoverAsia]

Let's face facts - when SS turned up he was a nobody from nowhere

When the SS bandwagon turned up at Ewood SS was already an estbalished star football pundit on Asian TV with a face and haircut known by millions.

As a marketing tool, and I use that word advisedly, it is quite easy to see how the owners thought SS would be of use within Asia. How 'Global' came into the equation wtfk's. What escaped our owners attention was that actually SS was a tool first and foremost. It also escaped BRAG's attention.

Some posters on this MB did point out the SS style from day one - an act more suited to circus. Anyone who had bothered to do a web search on SS at that time would have found plenty of material.

Even in their self admitted stupidity quite how SS kidded the owners and others for so long is a mystery.