MONEY MONEY MONEY

Last updated : 17 July 2007 By editor

'We do not know if anybody will be charged at the end of the investigation into alleged corruption that saw police raid three British clubs yesterday, but the drama itself, weeks before the start of the Premier League's richest season yet, roared one conclusion: something is rotten in the state of football. The police action is separate from, but follows, Quest's final report into allegations of "bungs" in the Premier League; Lord Stevens' inquiry refused to "sign off" 17 transfers, including one understood to be the subject of a police investigation.

'That came after Quest's first report, which was widely condemned as a whitewash because it "cleared" 95% of the transfers but was damning in its criticism of the way clubs did their business, including, famously, three who did not know what the rules were. Sources close to that investigation said then that they had referred some of their findings to the police and tax authorities.

'Yet most fans will view the raids as more evidence that the unholy amounts of money in football are not well managed or policed and are banked by people who do not deserve them. The football authorities have reacted to years of scandals by belatedly introducing regulations but there is a vacuum at the heart of the game's governance because the FA is not truly independent, having been savaged by the big clubs' desire for the game to be run as they want it.

'So, the Glazer family take over Manchester United and there are no rules to prevent it or the £660m debts being ladled on to the club because it was a plc business open to takeover. Other clubs are bought by international businessmen and the "fit-and-proper-person test" presents only the most basic form-filling as a qualification for entry. Thaksin Shinawatra takes over Manchester City and no rules prevent it because he has only been charged with corruption, not convicted. Men who owned shares in clubs, including Sir John Hall, who talked of building Newcastle United into a sporting totem of regional regeneration, have sold out for fortunes. The arrival of Carlos Tevez in English football should have been a cause for celebration but his name will always be associated with murk and muddle.

'Although £2.7bn is about to pour into the Premier League from TV for the next three years, some clubs, such as Manchester United, raise ticket prices by 14%. When Ken Bates's Leeds United go into administration, football's rules demand that millionaire players have to be paid in full whereas other creditors, including St John Ambulance, which is owed £165, can be left out of pocket.

'The police did not raid three clubs to investigate that, but what happened yesterday should be another wake-up call for all who care about football and want to see it run as a great, decent sport, not as an indecent business.'