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.
Governing Bodies
FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Congo officials over financial misconduct
FIFA’s ethics committee launched disciplinary proceedings against three senior Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) officials on Wednesday, including president Jean-Guy Mayolas, over allegations of financial misconduct.
Mayolas, his wife and his son were sentenced to life in prison earlier this month after a criminal court in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville, convicted them of embezzling $1.1 million in FIFA funds. Media reports said their whereabouts were not known , and they were tried in absentia.
FECOFOOT general secretary Wantete Badji and treasurer Raoul Kanda are also subject to the disciplinary proceedings, FIFA said. Badji and Kanda were sentenced to five years each in prison by the court in Brazzaville for related charges.
“These proceedings follow the receipt of information and documents during an audit,” FIFA said in a statement.
-Reuters
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The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try barring President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028, in a move that could also have implications for the World Cup being hosted by the U.S. this summer.
The proposal, on the agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting of the global drug-fighting watchdog’s executive committee, is the latest manoeuvre to come out of a yearslong refusal of the U.S. government to pay its annual dues to WADA.
The refusal is part of the American government’s unanimous, bipartisan protest of the agency’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other issues.
The Associated Press learned of the agenda item through correspondence it obtained between WADA and European officials involved in the agency’s decision-making. Two others with knowledge of the agenda confirmed the existence of the rules proposal to AP; they were not authorised to speak publicly about the agenda, which has not been released publicly.
The proposal was, in fact, first brought up in 2024, when U.S. authorities successfully lobbied for its rejection. The U.S. has since lost its seat on the executive committee.
“In spite of WADA’s increasing threats, we continue to stand firm in our demand for accountability and transparency from WADA to ensure fair competition in sport,” said Sara Carter, the director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The rule, if passed, would figure to be mostly symbolic, given the limits an international sports federation could have on the president of a country attending an event inside his own borders.
“I have never heard of a $50-million-budget Swiss foundation being able to enforce a rule to, for example, prevent the United States president from going anywhere,” said Carter’s predecessor at ONDCP, Rahul Gupta, who was on the WADA executive committee two years ago and led the movement to reject the proposal. “And the next question you have to ask is: How are you going to enforce it? Are they going to post a red notice from Interpol? It’s ludicrous. It’s clear they have not thought this through.”
In a news release after this story published, WADA said the AP story was “entirely misleading,” focusing on Fitzgerald’s statement to the AP that if proposals being discussed were “introduced, given that the rules would not apply retroactively, the FIFA World Cup, LA and Salt Lake City Games (in 2034) would not be covered.”
Fitzgerald’s only answer to three emails from AP seeking clarification on his initial response — specifically about how a rule that had not yet been adopted could or couldn’t be applied retroactively on events that are scheduled for the future — was: “I’m trying to say that it would not apply retroactively so those events would not be covered. Given that and the next meeting of the Board being scheduled for November, I don’t see how it could come into play for this year’s World Cup.”
-AP
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The Confederation of African Football has dismissed Yasin Osman Robleh, the Djiboutian official who headed its judicial bodies for the past six years, in a move aimed at restoring confidence in the organisation’s disciplinary processes.
According to reports from convergence sources, the decision was confirmed on Saturday by CAF Secretary General Veron Mosengo-Omba, bringing an abrupt end to Robleh’s tenure overseeing the confederation’s disciplinary and investigative committees since 2019.
Robleh’s position reportedly came under increasing pressure following the controversy surrounding sanctions imposed after the Africa Cup of Nations Final between Morocco and Senegal. The disciplinary decisions that followed the match sparked criticism from several quarters and placed CAF’s legal framework under intense scrutiny.
In response to the situation, CAF’s Executive Committee has appointed Togolese lawyer Cedric Egai, currently the confederation’s Director of Legal Affairs, as interim head of the judicial bodies.
Egai is expected to stabilise the organisation’s legal arm while CAF works toward appointing a permanent successor to Robleh.
Disciplinary Decisions Delayed
The leadership change has already affected ongoing disciplinary processes within the confederation. CAF’s disciplinary committee reportedly held hearings last Thursday on several cases, including the high-profile encounter involving Egypt’s Al Ahly and Morocco’s AS FAR.
However, decisions on those matters have been temporarily put on hold pending the confirmation of new leadership within the judicial structure.
Sources indicate that once a permanent successor is appointed, CAF will move swiftly to conclude outstanding disciplinary rulings affecting both clubs and national teams.
Restoring Confidence
The move is widely seen as part of CAF’s effort to restore confidence in its judicial system following weeks of controversy surrounding disciplinary decisions at major competitions.
Robleh’s departure closes a significant chapter in CAF’s legal administration, while Egai’s interim appointment signals a potential shift in leadership and governance at a critical time for African football.
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