Should football clubs be protected

[gerd]

I came to this idea after writing a reaction about the dismissal of Chris Hughton by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley. I think this dismissal is a disgrace.
There should be a way to protect football clubs against utter fools like Ashley.
In a way some of these clubs with a very long tradition and with a huge fan base could be considered as some sort of national heritage that can't be given in the hands of people with lots of money but no brains or ethical behaviour.

Maybe there should be some sort of test or question list that future owners should have to pass before becoming owners of a football club. Maybe they should be forced to put a large amount of money in some trust...that money could be taken by the FA and given to the club if the owner behaves un-ethically. That large amount of money should be some sort of protection against unethical behaviour.

What do you think? And this is not only about Mike Ashley. I have my doubts against Abramovich and the Man City owners too (and there are lots of other people that should not be owners of a football club: Berlusconi, Florentino Perez,....).

Maybe this should be something that is forced upon football by the European Union, because FIFA proved that they are not the most ethical governing body in the world. I'm pretty sure FIFA couldn't care less about football clubs (and football).

 

[Milanista]

To be fair though, these owners are buying these clubs so it becomes 'their' businesses. I don't think they'd invest if they had no degree of power.

 

[lo zio]

To be fair though, these owners are buying these clubs so it becomes 'their' businesses. I don't think they'd invest if they had no degree of power.

indeed. football is a business, like it or not. and capitalism and ethic march on opposite ways....
besides, come to think of it, football club owners can only do so much damage... i mean what's the worst possible scenario? i can think of cecchi gori's fiorentina or ferlaino's napoli.... they pretty much "killed" their clubs, causing their bankrupt.... and yet what happened? a new owner founded a new club (wich 1 year after bought the name and history of the dead club).... the dead club employees just moved from the dead club to the new one, and today, just a few years later, those 2 clubs are playing in serie a again (with great results too)....
it's not that much of a tragedy afterall... at least if compared to what businessmen can do in other areas..... i mean just imagine levi's or fiat or adidas outsourcing to china..... that is much more traumatic in terms of consequences (and i'm not just talking about gdp, think of the all the employees out of their job and their families).
since we don't have an ethic code in theese industries, i really can't think of a different situation in football's industry.
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little side note: i know this is absolutely irrilevant as u weren't specifically referring to any club owner.... but i gotta say, as much as i can't stand that classless corrupt buffoon of berlusconi, he's done an outstanding job as a football club owner.
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however i do understand your point. football clubs are different from other companies, as people don't feel the same deal of affection for other companies.... yet i believe, those who have that deal of affaction (the fans) are also the ones who can put much pressure on the owner, when they think he's doing something wrong...

there's one limit i would definitely put to football club owning though. the acquisition process. u wanna buy a club? then put the cash on the table! no leveraged buyouts, no newcos, no fideiussions, bond bail or any other sort of bank guarrantee... no clever ideas... just show your commitment and pay for what you're buying. that would already be a huge step forward, in terms of clubs' protection imo.

 

[biker_jim_uk]

The Premier League do a fit and proper test for new owners apparently tho I've no idea how you fail it! Also, what are the sellers of a club supposed to do if they are losing money and the sale is stopped cos no-one likes the new guy? The club is going to go out of business.
The best way to prevent manager loss is to refuse to go to the games\buy no club stuff etc until he is re-instated, but the owners know fans are stupid and will continue to turn up in their thousands regardless.

 

[cfdh_edmundo]

Yeah it's impossible to make such a law, especially in the UK which is now the cradle of sales-driven capitalism. All major UK industries (or what's left of them) are being sold off or have been sold off, not just football. Cadburys sold to the Americans (Kraft Foods), British Energy (now owned by the French EDF), Powergen (now owned by the German E.On), Rover Cars (now owned by Tata of India). No one really cares who the companies (or clubs) are sold to, all they care about is owners (or shareholders) generating profit.

 

[ALBICELESTE2010]

I'm not sure if the PL has already or will institute new laws on fit and proper ownership tests.

If not there should be ie how much working capital, clauses to prevent asset stripping, sale of ground without approval , fixed term commitment and so on.

Ashley is quite simply a buffoon. A man of limited education who got lucky in business to a degree.

 

[allezlinter]

Well I was thinking about this after Liverpool's problems at the beggining of the season.
I think the only solution is to prevent one people to hold more than 49.999% of a professional club, and that there is an elected president, such as Barça or Madrid, because i agree with you, what has just happenend is a real scandal