FootBiz newsletter #23: Who's suing who, FIFA reform and EFL takeovers

Welcome back to FootBiz, or just a straight welcome to those who are newer to what we are doing. We’ve had a bit of an influx this week 👋 

In short, you’re reading the second of two newsletters delivered every week breaking down football’s business, laws, politics and media.

For premium subscribers, which starts at just £3.99/month or £40/year, you get a ton more news, views and analysis. Those premium subs get a gaggle of extra benefits too, and on Tuesday evening they were reading about Gary Lineker’s departure from Match of the Day, why it’s not really a surprise, and a tickle on who might (and might not) replace him. Yesterday they received Rob Draper’s deep dive on FIFA and whether they can even achieve the necessary reform with no accountability.

A banker who works in the buying and selling of football clubs told me this week that FootBiz is “coverage of all the detail I want to know but nobody else covers” which is a much kinder and more eloquent way of putting it than I ever could.

Anyway, lots to get into today as the refereeing scandal rolls on, FIFA do FIFA stuff and a whole load more so here are your contents and then the real thing. Let’s go.

Table of Contents

• No scrutiny

• PL rivals serve City notice

• Bully for you 

• Ref update

• Blackburn in the balance

• M&A Murmurs

• Seeds of doubt

No scrutiny

FIFA have helped the FA avoid more scrutiny of their surprising decision to permit new England manager Thomas Tuchel to delay his start date until January by deciding to stage next month's European qualifying draw for the 2026 World Cup as a virtual event.

Tuchel's failure to attend England's UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland this week even in a scouting capacity has been widely criticised, while as reported by the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail several Premier League clubs believe that the German's absence has led to wholesale withdrawals from Lee Carsley's squad.

The issue of whether Tuchel would attend the World Cup draw alongside the 54 other European managers hoping to qualify for the tournament in the United States was already the subject of much speculation, which FIFA have now killed stone dead by decreeing that no-one need travel to Zurich. Following the precedent set for the Qatar 2022 qualifying draw which took place during a global Covid-19 lockdown, FIFA will livestream the event from their European offices, so Tuchel may even find the time to log in.

A virtual draw is a far cry from the star-studded FIFA events of the recent past, with Vladimir Putin attending the 2014 World Cup qualifying draw that was held in St Petersburg three years earlier, but it also helps Gianni Infantino avoid more scrutiny.

The FIFA president has not given a press conference since he was re-elected at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Rwanda in March 2023, and appears in no rush to answer any of the pressing questions surrounding Saudi Arabia's appointment as 2034 World Cup hosts and next year's troubled Club World Cup in the USA.

Saudi successful 2034 bid will be confirmed by acclamation at an Extraordinary FIFA Congress on 11 December, when Morocco, Portugal and Spain to will also be formally awarded the 2030 tournament, two days before the World Cup draw. That event will also take place online.

Read more: Deep dive on FIFA’s lack of accountability

PL rivals serve City notice

Tensions among the Big Six Premier League clubs are likely to have escalated ahead of next Thursday's vote on Associated Party Transaction rules, with four of Manchester City's rivals serving notice of a potential compensation claim against the club that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

The Times reported yesterday that Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have all lodged legal notices reserving the right to seek compensation if City are found guilty of breaching the Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules. 

The clubs may not end up suing City even if they are found guilty of a number of the 115 FFP breaches with which they have been charged, but lodging notice of a potential claim is a significant shot across their rival's bows. One source involved told FootBiz that the notice of legal action was merely procedural and a mechanism of keeping their options open, as the clubs have been warned that the scope for future compensation claims could be limited by a six-year statute of limitations dating from November 5, 2018.

The 1980 Limitation Act set a six-year limit for legal claims for contract breaches in UK law, although this time period is only triggered when the alleged breaches are made public. Although City’s alleged rule breaches took place between 2019 and 2016 they were only made pubic when German website Der Spiegel published the infamous Football Leaks documents in November 2018, so the six-year limit expired last week.

The clubs have reserved the right to demand compensation in the event of a guilty verdict for loss of income relating to missing out on winning trophies and European qualification due to City's alleged rule-breaking, and given there is no obligation to follow through on these notices it has surprised some observers that more clubs didn’t follow suit. Any such compensation claims would be settled via arbitration rather than through the courts.

Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Southampton all took similar action in serving notice of their right to sue after Everton were charged with Profit and Sustainability rule breaches two years ago. Everton were found guilty on two separate counts by independent commissions and docked a total of eight points, but the legal action from their rivals never materialised.

Bully for you 

Manchester City's combative approach does not stop at legal battles with the Premier League, even when it may harm them. The club's Portuguese international defender Ruben Dias spoke eloquently and movingly at the launch of an anti-bullying initiative at the House of Commons this week, but City prevented his important message reaching its widest possible audience.

Dias has been appointed a patron of the Anti-Bullying Alliance and gave several interviews to promote the work of the charity, but City made it clear to the organisers that at least two global media outlets were not permitted to talk to them. The reasons given are unclear, but are thought to be related to criticisms aimed at City over their ongoing conflicts with the Premier League.

Ref update

UEFA has suspended referee David Coote after a video published by the Sun showed him snorting a white powder during the Euros where he was working as a VAR. 

At this point you have to hope the guy is alright and has good people around him (not the friends he sent these videos to). His career seems likely over.

Credit to Terry Hayes’ guerrilla marketing consultant though.

Blackburn in the balance

Blackburn Rovers’ future remains up in the air pending the result of a case being heard in a Delhi courtroom.

Despite trawling a number of Indian sites to try and find a documented resolution last night, I couldn’t unearth anything despite the much-delayed case being on the docket for yesterday.

This was the third time that the hearing had been postponed, and with the Indian government taking action against Rovers owners Venky’s, it has made funding the club very difficult as they had to essentially put one pound in escrow for every pound they sent to fund the club. Given they’ve plugged the hole by an average of nearly £20m for every year they’ve owned the club, things haven’t been easy at Ewood Park.

With such low revenues compared to other clubs in the division and Premier League clubs coming down with the ultra-buoying effect of parachute payments, Rovers need a resolution. It’s just coming from several thousand miles away.

In the club’s latest accounts, published this week, the auditor said: “Until such time as the legal matter is concluded satisfactorily, thereby enabling the ultimate parent company to freely remit funds to its overseas subsidiaries, including this group and company, a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on this group and the company's ability to continue as a going concern.”

M&A Murmurs

A new dawn is imminent at Swansea City, where Daniel Kaplan and Jason Levien’s disastrous reign is about to be over.

The club are just awaiting EFL approval before they can announce the departure of the much-maligned duo who spent £110m on the then-Premier League side but oversaw a gradual, unceasing decline in the Swans’ fortunes.

Current chairman Andy Coleman is going to be the new face of ownership, buying out part of the Kaplan-Levien group, with Brett Cravatt, Jason Cohen and Nigel Morris scooping up the rest.

While we haven’t got a confirmed figure yet on the transaction price, we are told it’s a huge loss for Kaplan and Levien, even if certain bonuses for promotion and remaining in the top flight were to be achieved.

The reality is they are unlikely to be any time soon as the new ownership plans to focus on:

• reconnecting with a fanbase that had become disillusioned with the former owners

• better decision-making

• realistic expectations given the club’s need to comply with Profitability and Sustainability rules set by the EFL.

Seeds of doubt

Further to Tuesday’s segment on Inter Miami qualifying for the Club World Cup despite getting knocked out in the first round of the MLS playoffs, it has emerged that Lionel Messi’s side are not just included but seeded for the tournament.

FIFA are expected to give Inter the A1 slot in the draw, according to The Times, strongly suggesting that the first game of the tournament will see them at home in Miami on Sunday June 15.

How the remaining seedings will be assigned is still unknown. The regulations say “the Fifa Council […] will divide the teams into groups by seeding and drawing lots in public at the draw, while taking sporting and geographical factors into consideration as far as possible” but after the Florida franchise’s shock inclusion, anything is on the table.

With no broadcasters announced yet, FIFA couldn’t take the risk of Messi not playing at the competition’s first edition since being blown up and expanded to 32 teams. Now they had all better hope he doesn’t get injured.