There has long been overwhelming evidence of corruption in football: from the many hidden conflicts of interest in club and player ownership, to the prevalence of match fixing and the stark lack of accountability of football associations, both national and global. In each case, people in the game make money. In each case, the growing costs…
British football clubs will soon see a new level of financial transparency, as UK companies are now required to identify ‘persons of significant control’. Football clubs have had to disclose similar information to football authorities for a while, but it is a shame that the football authorities, despite their rhetoric on transparency and accountability to fans,…
This seems like a good time for a quick round-up. It’s been a few weeks since we published a report into misgovernance at the Scottish Football Association, calling for an independent inquiry to ensure a level playing field and greater accountability to fans. Now things are moving… To recap briefly, we identified two main issues around the SFA’s…
As the search goes on to find a leadership candidate for world football who isn’t completely compromised before they start, our good friends at Transparency International have produced a report that begs the question: is there a single football association fit to lead international reform? TI have assessed each of the world’s national football associations and regional bodies against the…
Today, the Court of Session in Scotland ruled in favour of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the Big Tax Case. The Big Tax Case was a challenge to Rangers’ use of an offshore tax avoidance scheme to pay its players. This is the first victory for HMRC in what has become a very long…
A story in last week’s Financial Times piqued our interest. Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has told AirAsia that they have four weeks to raise more equity or their licence to operate in the country may be at risk. Why is this important to a West London football club? because QPR owe vast amounts of money to…
A fascinating article from Bloomberg today describes Borussia Dortmund’s apparent multi-million euro deal that will see them be paid for not qualifying for the Champions League. According to the article, by Alex Duff and Sarah Jones, the German team has had an insurance contract in each of the three seasons since their 2012 Bundesliga title which covers…