Connect with us

Premier League

SINGAPORE FIRM CLOSE TO BUYING NEWCASTLE UNITED

blank

Published

on

The Singapore-registered company that says it is close to buying English soccer club Newcastle United admits it doctored photos of former US president Barack Obama in marketing materials used to publicise the newly formed group.

Bellagraph Nova Group (BN Group) also said some of the information in those materials was released prematurely or contained errors after Reuters found inconsistencies when speaking to firms and persons BN Group says it is involved with.

Speaking on behalf of BN Group’s principals, Nereides Antonio Giamundo de Bourbon, head of investor relations, acknowledged that the company had altered photos of Obama to make it look as though he had attended a meeting with its executives in Paris.

His admission came on Wednesday (Aug 19) in response to questions from Reuters.

BN Group has now removed the photos from its website.

Advertisement

However, Bourbon denied that the company had deliberately made any false claims about certain aspects of its business.

The company, which says it had a turnover of US$12 billion (S$16 billion) last year and describes itself in marketing materials as the “world’s fastest growing conglomerate”, has said on its website and in press releases that it is headquartered in Paris.

No company called Bellagraph Nova Group is registered in France, according to official online records checked by Reuters on Friday. Reuters could not find any company by that name at the address it has given – 10 Place Vendome – when a reporter visited on Tuesday.

A receptionist at an office rental business operated by Regus in the building said BN Group had used its space but its staff were not always present. Bourbon maintained to Reuters that BN Group had a permanent office in Place Vendome.

In addition, the group, which was incorporated in Singapore last month, has said financial technology firm – Hydra X – is one of the entities in its global empire and that it is implementing a trading system for the Singapore Exchange.

Advertisement

Hydra X has denied both those claims. The Singapore Exchange has also denied Hydra X is implementing a trading system.

‘PHOTOSHOP PICTURE’

BN Group’s website and press releases in recent weeks have featured photos of Obama with the firm’s owners, Singaporean businessmen Terence and Nelson Loh, and Evangeline Shen, a Chinese jewellery merchant and former Morgan Stanley banker.

While Shen and the Lohs had photos taken with Obama at a charity event they sponsored in Singapore on Dec 14, BN Group’s Bourbon said some of the photos published in press releases on its website and sent to media had been edited to make it look as though Obama was in a private meeting.

“We are serious people… the only ambiguous thing has been the photoshop picture,” he said. “There wasn’t any malicious aim behind it.”

Shen declined to be interviewed for this story. The Loh cousins did not respond to requests for comment.

Advertisement

The charity event where the photos of Obama were taken was sponsored by Novena Global Lifecare, a Singapore healthcare company founded in 2010 by the Loh cousins.

The photographer who took the pictures confirmed to Reuters that they were taken at the gala event in Singapore.

Obama’s office and the Obama Foundation did not respond to requests for comment about the photos or the BN Group.

The company grabbed global headlines on Aug 15 when it announced it had submitted a takeover bid for one of England’s most high-profile soccer clubs, adding that it had enlisted the help of Newcastle legend and former England captain Alan Shearer as well as another former player, Michael Chopra, in its bid.

The surprise announcement adds to years of speculation over the future of Newcastle United, which has been the subject of several fruitless takeover bids, including a US$390 million Saudi-backed deal that collapsed last week.

Advertisement

If BN Group’s bid is accepted, the English Premier League would then carry out its owners and directors test which involves looking into the backgrounds of the people involved to assess their suitability to own a soccer club.

Newcastle United declined to comment on the bid or BN Group. The club’s owner, Mike Ashley, did not respond to requests for comment.

Shearer’s management told Reuters he was not involved in the takeover bid. Chopra, who on Aug 14 retweeted a picture of himself at the offices of BN Group, did not respond to a request for comment.

HYDRA X

A firm called Bellagraph Nova – which lists the Lohs and Shen as its three directors and shareholders – was incorporated in Singapore on July 20 and is registered to an office above a row of shops in the city-state.

BN Group has said on its website and in marketing materials that it is a French company with an office in Paris at 10 Place Vendome, an exclusive square home to the Ritz Paris hotel and luxury stores such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

Advertisement

Reuters found no record of any company registered in France called Bellagraph Nova Group on the online database of the Registries of the Commercial Courts, the French state agency that holds company information.

Singapore-based Hydra X is one of the entities BN Group has said in marketing materials sent to Reuters on Monday is part of its global conglomerate of 23,000 employees.

It said in those materials that Hydra X was “designing and implementing” a trading system for the Singapore Exchange.

When contacted for comment, Hydra X and the exchange denied this. Bourbon said there had been a mistake in translating the company’s description in its marketing documents.

Hydra X said BN Group was not a shareholder. It said in an emailed statement to Reuters that it was privately owned, predominantly by individual investors, and that it shared no legal or beneficial owners with the BN Group, nor was part of, or a subsidiary, of the BN Group.

Advertisement

Hydra X said it had entered “into a joint venture with a related entity” of BN Group to build technology solutions unrelated to financial technology. It declined to name the entity.

Bourbon maintained to Reuters that Hydra X was owned by BN Group and was in the process of merging into the group. He said sharing further details would break non-disclosure agreements.

“Sometimes the marketing moves faster than the process,” he said.

NETX LISTING

BN Group’s official Instagram account also says one of its entities, a robotics company called NETX, is listed in Singapore and on New York’s Nasdaq exchange.

Reuters found no record of a company called NETX on those exchanges. Bourbon said they had announced the listings “prematurely” but they were under way.

Advertisement

Without elaborating further, the Singapore exchange referred Reuters to a filing in which a company listed on its junior bourse, bought by the Loh’s investment company DORR Group last month, has proposed to change its name to NETX later in August.

Nasdaq did not respond to requests for comment.

BN Group’s modest Singapore office – on the top floor of a four-storey building above a pet shop and an Indian restaurant – is also the address of Novena Global Lifecare and other firms it owns such as a fine wine merchant and an investment manager.

When Reuters visited the office on Thursday, there was nobody at the reception desk. In the hallway stood a dormant, shoulder-height robot like the ones used in online marketing campaigns for NETX.

A woman, who came out of a glass-walled meeting room to speak to Reuters, said neither the Lohs nor Shen were present.

Advertisement

Bourbon said the Singapore-registered Bellagraph Nova company at that address was the parent firm. “We started from Singapore but we are moving all our realty to Europe.”

-Reuters

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Premier League

Liverpool one win away from title, Leicester relegated, Ipswich almost down

blank

Published

on

blank
Premier League - Leicester City v Liverpool - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 20, 2025 Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates scoring their first goal with Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas and Liverpool's Harvey Elliott Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers

Liverpool will have to wait for a few more days to be crowned Premier League champions despite a 1-0 victory at Leicester City after Arsenal kept their slender hopes just about alive with a 4-0 romp at 10-man Ipswich Town on Sunday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold came off the bench to score Liverpool’s winner in the 76th minute at the King Power Stadium to restore their 13-point lead at the top with five games left.

While Liverpool can almost taste a record-equalling 20th English crown, Leicester’s defeat confirmed their relegation back to the Championship after just one season.

The Midlands club have now been relegated from England’s top flight a record 13 times.

Chelsea secured a massive win in their bid to qualify for the Champions League as they came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage with Pedro Neto scoring in stoppage time.

Advertisement

The win pushed Chelsea above Nottingham Forest in to fifth place, the last spot for qualification to the Champions League, although Forest play at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

Chelsea have 57 points from 33 games, two behind third-placed Newcastle United and one behind Manchester City. Forest and Aston Villa are level with Chelsea on 57 points.

Wolverhampton Wanderers guaranteed their safety as they beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Pablo Sarabia’s stunning free kick wrapped up a fifth successive league win, the first time Wolves have achieved that in the top flight since 1970.

Liverpool were wasteful at Leicester with numerous chances going begging and Mohamed Salah suffering a frustrating afternoon including hitting both posts with an early shot.

Salah hit the woodwork again moments before the ball came out to Alexander-Arnold who fired a left-footed shot through the crowd to give his side the points — ripping off his shirt and celebrating wildly with the travelling fans.

Advertisement

“We just keep going, mentally we’re really strong,” manager Arne Slot, whose side could be crowned champions if Arsenal lose at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, told Sky Sports.

“They enjoy playing football and it helps when you are playing for something special. Today (Alexander-Arnold) knows when it matters most he can just bring a bit more which is something all the top, top players have.”

DISTANT SECOND

If Arsenal avoid defeat by Palace, Slot’s side will seal the title if they beat Tottenham Hotspur at home next Sunday.

“We will focus on Tottenham and looking forward again to a home game and I think the stadium will be full,” Slot, who can become the first Dutch manager to win the English title, said. “It’s a nice game to look forward to.”

Advertisement

Liverpool have 79 points with Arsenal a distant second on 66. Arsenal may have their eyes now on a Champions League semi-final against Paris St Germain, but they showed against Ipswich they will not hand over the title to Liverpool.

Leandro Trossard opened the scoring early on and Gabriel Martinelli made it 2-0 after a delightful flick by Mikel Merino.

Ipswich were reduced to 10 men before halftime as Leif Davis crudely raked his studs down the back of Bukayo Saka’s calf and the second half was academic.

Trossard grabbed his second in the 69th minute and Ethan Nwaneri added a late fourth to leave Ipswich stuck in 18th place on 21 points. They will be relegated if they drop points again or 17th-placed West Ham United pick up one more point from their remaining five games.

Chelsea were heading for a damaging defeat at neighbours Fulham as the hosts led with Alex Iwobi’s 20th-minute goal.

Advertisement

Substitute Tyrique George equalised with an instinctive shot in the 83rd minute, his first Premier League goal, before winger Neto swivelled and unleashed a thunderous strike in stoppage time to send the away fans wild.

Manchester United reached the Europa League semi-final with an astonishing comeback win against French club Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday but their Premier League woes returned against Wolves.

They are in 14th place and have now lost eight Premier League home games this season, their most defeats at Old Trafford in a league campaign since 1962-63.

“Wolves scored in the only opportunity they had. we had many chances, and we didn’t score. If you don’t score goals, you are not going to win games,” manager Ruben Amorim said.

-Reuters

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Premier League

Salah signs new deal as Liverpool icon eyes final career chapter

blank

Published

on

Egypt Face Anxious Wait Over Salah Injury After Ghana Draw -

Egyptian outlet, Ahram, has reported that Mohamed Salah has signed a new contract with Liverpool, extending his stay at Anfield beyond the 2024-25 season as he prepares for what could be the final chapter of a storied career with the club.

While the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, British media reports indicate the 32-year-old forward has signed a two-year extension, keeping him at the club until at least 2027.

Salah, who joined Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017, has become a modern-day icon at Anfield.

The Egyptian international has scored 243 goals in 394 appearances—third on the club’s all-time scorers list—and has helped the Reds secure seven major trophies, including the Premier League and Champions League titles.

“I had my best years here,” Salah told the club’s website. “Hopefully it’s going to be 10. I signed because I believe we can still win big trophies together.”

Advertisement

He has maintained his prolific form this season, scoring 32 goals and providing 22 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions. His 27 Premier League goals currently lead the division.

During his time with Liverpool, Salah has won the Premier League Golden Boot three times, been named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year twice, and claimed two FWA Footballer of the Year awards.

Now entering the latter stages of his career, Salah remains focused on adding more silverware to his collection and further cementing his legacy at Liverpool.

Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Premier League

Leicester’s 15-year-old debutant Monga wears blank shirt over gambling sponsor rule

blank

Published

on

blank
Premier League - Leicester City v Newcastle United - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - April 7, 2025 Leicester City's Jeremy Monga after the match REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga, who became the second-youngest Premier League player when he made his senior debut in Monday’s 3-0 loss to Newcastle United, had to wear a blank shirt because it is sponsored by an online cryptocurrency gaming platform.

Britain’s Gambling Act 2005, which underwent a review in 2020, prohibits players under 18 from wearing kits displaying gambling sponsors. Monga, an England U16 international, made his senior debut at 15 years 271 days old.

Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri remains the youngest Premier League player in history, having debuted in the competition when he was 90 days younger than Monga.

Leicester, who suffered an eighth straight loss in the league without scoring a goal, are 19th in the standings, 15 points below the safety zone.

-Reuters

Advertisement

 

Continue Reading

Most Viewed