Governing Bodies
NEWCASTLE SET TO LEAD THE ALTERNATIVE ‘PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE’
Newcastle are closing in on a major takeover deal that could see them top the table for the wealthiest owners in the Premier League.
Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking to take over the Magpies from Mike Ashley in a £300million transaction.
The proposed Saudi Arabian deal would see Manchester City, one of the most valuable sporting franchises in the world, knocked off top spot.
Topping the Premier League rich list is quite the feat as England’s top-flight generates 72 per cent more revenue than its nearest competitor, the Bundesliga in Germany.
Sportsmail has ranked the owners of every club by their estimated wealth based on Newcastle’s lucrative takeover going through…
1. NEWCASTLE – SAUDI ARABIA PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND (£320BN)
British brothers Simon and David Reuben – billionaire property developers with North-East links – are said to be taking a 10 per cent stake in the club – but the big money is arriving from Saudi Arabia.
That 10 per cent for the Reuben brothers will be the stake that Amanda Staveley is currently holding.
While the remaining 80 per cent will be taken by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is said to control assets worth £320bn.
2. MANCHESTER CITY – SHEIKH MANSOUR (£23.3BN)
Sheikh Mansour has turned Manchester City into one of the world’s biggest sporting franchises having taken the club over in 2008.
Since arriving to replace former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, City have gone on to win four English Premier League titles, four League Cups and two FA Cups.
Such success has caused City Football Group’s value to skyrocket to £4.8bn – making them one of the most valuable sporting franchises in the world.
Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, has spent more than £1.6bn over the first decade of owning the club.
He is chairman of International Petroleum Investment Company and also has a stake in Richard Branson’s space tourism programme, Virgin Galactic.
3. CHELSEA – ROMAN ABRAMOVICH (£9.6BN)
Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for £140m when the club was on the brink of bankruptcy.
The 51-year-old billionaire has transformed the English outfit into one of the biggest and best clubs in the world through his enormous investment in the squad.
With a portfolio of assets worth £9.6bn, he has earned the reputation as one of the richest men on the planet.
Abramovich made his fortune in the oil business, selling his stake in the Russian gas company Gazprom in 2005. He still owns stakes in steel and nickel companies among his other business ventures.
4. ARSENAL – STAN KROENKE (£6.8BN)
The Missouri billionaire is a real estate and sports mogul with an international portfolio. He married Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974 and later founded Kroenke Group in 1983.
His sports empire also includes the LA Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Rapids (MLS), Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and Arsenal FC.
He first became involved in Arsenal in 2007 before assuming majority control in 2011.
5. WOLVES – GUO GUANGCHANG (£5.2BN)
Guo Guangchang took over Wolves in 2016 after making a substantial investment in the club.
He is chairman of the Fosun Group and turned the company into an insurance-focused investment group.
Fosun’s investments range from steelmaking to mining, tourism and pharmaceuticals.
6. ASTON VILLA – NASSEF SAWIRIS (£5BN)
Nassef Sawiris replaced Tony Xia as Aston Villa owner in July 2018 when he claimed 55 per cent of the controlling stake.
Sawiris is from one of Egypt’s wealthiest families and owns numerous construction, engineering and building companies.
His holdings include stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and adidas; he sits on the supervisory board of sports giant adidas.
7. LEICESTER – AIYAWATT SRIVADDHANAPRABHA (£4.6BN)
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, known as Top, became the CEO and chairman of their family company King Power and chairman of Leicester after his father Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha died.
Vichai, two members of his staff, the pilot and a passenger died in a helicopter crash leaving the club after a match in October 2018.
Their family company has an estimated annual revenue of $3.2bn (£2.5bn) and is the country’s leading operator of airport duty-free stores.
8. TOTTENHAM – JOE LEWIS (£3.9BN)
Having originally been born above a pub in London’s East End, Joe Lewis went on to become a billionaire.
English National Investment Company, which Lewis owns 70.6 per cent of, bought a controlling stake in Tottenham in 2001 from Lord Alan Sugar.
Joe Lewis owns the Tavistock Group, with more than 200 assets across 10 countries. Those assets include sports teams, energy companies, restaurants and luxury properties.
He has a variety of other investments including luxury club resort Albany, restaurants, hotels, and even an Australian agriculture firm.
9. MANCHESTER UNITED – THE GLAZER FAMILY (£3.6BN)
The Glazer family have owned Manchester United after Malcolm Glazer bought the club for £1.1bn. Malcolm was the primary stakeholder until he died in 2014.
His sons, Avram and Joel, have since stepped up as co-chairmen, with the family controlling 83 per cent of the voting power in the publicly traded team.
The person with the most shares in the club is Joel Glazer. He is among 23 other executive management members, but he holds the most power. Others include: Avram Glazer, Kevin Glazer, Bryan Glazer and Edward Glazer
10. SOUTHAMPTON – GAO JISHENG (£3.1BN)
Gao Jisheng became majority owner of Southampton in 2017 when he completed a £210m deal, acquiring an 80 per cent of the club.
The investment was made personally by Jisheng and his daughter Nelly as opposed to being sanctioned through Lander Sports.
Jisheng was the founder of Lander Sports Development until last year when he sold enough shares to lose control of the real-estate company.
11. CRYSTAL PALACE – JOSHUA HARRIS (£2.7BN)
Joshua Harris is an American private equity investor that co-founded Apollo Global Management – one of the world’s largest alternative investment firms.
Harris owns an 18 per cent stake in Crystal Palace and is the principal shareholder of both the NHL team New Jersey Devils and NBA team Philadelphia 76ers as of 2011.
12. LIVERPOOL – JOHN W HENRY (£2.1BN)
John W Henry is the principle owner of Liverpool, having the most significant financial stake in Fenway Sports Group, which bought Liverpool in 2010.
Henry has a passion for sports and also owns the prolific Boston Red Sox team in Major League Baseball.
He made his wealth through founding the investment management company, John W. Henry & Company.
13. WEST HAM – DAVID SULLIVAN AND DAVID GOLD (£1.6BN)
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has seen his wealth increase by £50m over the past 12 months, while David Gold has seen his raise by £10m – according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
Gold and Sullivan acquired a 50 per cent share in West Ham in January 2010 and then purchased a further 10 per cent a few months later – Sullivan holds 51 per cent of those shares and Gold owns 35 per cent.
Sullivan and Gold’s first business venture together was in pornography.
Sullivan started selling soft pornography photos and expanded into sex shops, adult magazines and several low-budget blue movies. He became a millionaire by the age of 25.
Gold owns Gold Group International, the parent company of Ann Summers and he previously co-owned adult magazine company Gold Star Publications with his brother.
14. EVERTON – FARHAD MOSHIRI (£1.5BN)
Having previously been involved with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, Farhad Moshiri sold his stake in the club to raise the capital he needed to launch a takeover of Everton.
He successfully took over the Toffees in February 2016.
Moshiri made his money from owning and having shares in numerous steel and energy companies in the UK and Russia.
15. BRIGHTON – TONY BLOOM (£1.3BN)
Tony Bloom is thought to have acquired most of his wealth through online gambling and gaming websites and he even finished fourth at the World Series of Poker in 2005.
Bloom acquired even more wealth through property and start-up investments he involved himself with.
He became the chairman of Brighton in 2009 and has taken the club from League One to the Premier League.
16. BOURNEMOUTH – MAXIM DEMIN (£900M)
The Russian businessman became a co-owner of the south-coast club in 2011 when they were in League One and assumed full ownership of the club in 2013.
He is known to have at least two companies in the UK, those being Wintel (a petrochemical company) and Wintel Holdings Ltd.
17. SHEFFIELD UNITED – PRINCE ABDULLAH BIN MUSA’AD (£198M)
The Sheffield United owner is the son of Prince Musa’id bin Abdulaziz Al Said and accumulated his wealth by setting up a paper manufacturing company in 1989.
The Saudi prince recently won a High Court battle over the control of Premier League side Sheffield United.
Kevin McCabe and the Prince were locked in a legal battle over their 50-50 ownership of the club last year. The court ruled that McCabe’s shares in the club had to be sold to Price Abdullah for £5m.
18. WATFORD – GINO POZZO (£93M)
The Pozzo family bought Watford from Laurence Bassini in 2012, but it is Gino Pozzo that has full ownership and control over the club.
He managed to buy the club from the profits of their family tool-making business, Freud.
He also is the son of Italian businessman Giampaolo Pozzo, who is currently the owner of Serie A club Udinese and the previous owner of LaLiga side Granada.
19. BURNLEY – MIKE GARLICK (£62M)
Mike Garlick became the sole chairman of the Clarets in 2015 when co-chairman John Banaszkiewicz stepped down from the role.
As founder and CEO of Michael Bailey Associates – a project management and consultancy company – Garlick made his wealth by establishing an international company with a portfolio of top tier clients.
20. NORWICH – DELIA SMITH AND MICHAEL WYNN-JONES (£23M)
Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones are majority shareholders of the Canaries and have been since 1996.
Smith made her £28m net worth being an English cook and television presenter best known for teaching cookery.
Wynn-Jones made his wealth by establishing New Crane Publishing and subsequently selling it for around £7m and remaining in the industry as a consultant.
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.
Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.
The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.
CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.
“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.
“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.
The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.
As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.
CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES:
ZONAL UNION DATE HOST NATION WAFU B 01 – 08 September Cote d’Ivoire COSAFA 11 – 19 September South Africa UNAF 22 – 27 September Egypt CECAFA 30 September – 05 October Tanzania WAFU A 12 – 17 October Senegal
-CAF
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.
Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.
No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.
Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.
This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.
Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.
Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.
Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.
The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.
The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.
They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.
The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.
Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.
The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”
The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.
The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.
Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.
Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.
One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.
There have been seven presidents of CAF since the continental body was created in 1957. Of the six former heads of the confederation, only Ahmad of Madagascar is alive.
As the sixth and just one-term president, Ahmad who recently completed his reduced ban of two years by FIFA/CAS is one of the dignitaries attending the funeral of Issa Hayatou in Cameroon this Friday.
Arrival of Issa Hayatou’s body from France
Funeral service for Hayatou at the Yaounde airport when the body arrived from Paris on Thursday
Long-time friend, Constant Omari arriving Yaounde for Hayatou’s funeral
Apart from other football chiefs – FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Patrice Motsepe, also in attendance is Congolese Constant Omari who had been a long term ally of Hayatou.
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