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**Sir X** · October 7, 2008, 06:57 PM

West Ham supremo plays down financial concerns

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By Paul Hirst, PA
Tuesday, 7 October 2008

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West Ham chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson

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West Ham's vice chairman has moved quickly to allay fears that the club will be affected by Icelandic bank Landsbanki going into receivership.

Iceland's banking system was thrown into chaos today when the government took control of Landsbanki, the second biggest bank in the country, to stop it collapsing.
West Ham's chairman, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, is a major shareholder in the bank and chaired the company until he was sacked today.
Now Hammers vice chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson has urged fans not to worry about the future stability of the club despite the economic turmoil surrounding the bank.
"The government has claimed shares in the company which means that the government has claimed control. That means basically that we have lost it," he told Sky Sports News.
"I don't think there's any reason to be too pessimistic. West Ham United is a wonderful club and a well run company.
"This investment was very important for him, but not his only one.
"It is, of course, a blow for him and his financial strength, but he himself has a number of other investments that are doing quite well at the moment so there is no reason to fear that he will not honour his commitment to West Ham football club.
"He (Gudmundsson) is not absolutely sure how this will directly affect him, but one thing he is sure of is that this will have no implications on the other investments of him and his family."
The financial problems that Gudmundsson is experiencing have led to suggestions that West Ham's new manager Gianfranco Zola will have no money to spend on improving his squad when the transfer window re-opens on January 1.
Fridgeirsson revealed Gudmundsson has invested £30million in the club since taking over as chairman last December.
He did say, however, that any future transfers would have to be financed by player sales because the squad is already too big.
"Our manager agrees it is not necessary for the squad to be that size so for further transfers the money would need to be generated from sales," said Fridgeirsson.
"There is no intention for him to invest further in the club at the moment. The club is standing strong, it is generating revenue and Mr Gudmundsson is not going to take money out of the club."
Worries had been raised about the financial stability of the club even before Landsbanki went into receivership.
Last month the Hammers were left with a potential £5million shortfall after the club's shirt sponsor, XL, went bust.
Then, two weeks ago, an independent tribunal ruled against West Ham in the Carlos Tevez transfer affair, leaving them liable to a £30million compensation claim.
The club have since revealed they intend to appeal that decision.
Newspaper reports last weekend suggested that Indian billionaire Anil Ambani is poised to make a bid for the club.
Fridgeirsson admitted that several parties were interested in buying the club, but said Gudmundsson had no plans to sell.
"There have been agents all around the club trying to get our attention but we have turned them away," he said.

**Sir X** · October 7, 2008, 06:58 PM

Football debt spiralling out of control says Triesman

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PA
Tuesday, 7 October 2008

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Lord Triesman revealed wages were growing at 12 per cent a year

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Football Association chairman Lord Triesman today waged war on English football's mounting debt, revealing that the game was a staggering £3bn in the red and needed a radical review to stop it spiralling out of control.

Speaking at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge, Triesman said the figure was based on information supplied to him by sources in the City of London whom he declined to name.
"The best estimate I could get in the City yesterday was that debts in English football as a whole have probably edged to the 3,000 million pounds mark," said Triesman.
He added that in 2006-7, the Deloitte group identified over £950m of debt in the top four clubs alone, with wages growing at 12 per cent per year.
Having so much "toxic debt", he said, posed a tangible danger and suggested the Fit and Proper Persons test - which governs who can buy a Premier League club - needed an urgent review since ownership was no longer as transparent as it should be.
"Transparency lies in an unmarked grave," Triesman said.
He refused, however, to be drawn on Thaksin Shinawatra's recent sale of Manchester City to the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Nor, in the current financial storm, would be comment on the problems surrounding West Ham and their Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson whose country's banking system is in crisis.
"Nobody has real confidence in what they cannot see," said Triesman.
"The fit and proper persons test does not do the job sufficiently robustly. A review is now inevitable because football clubs are not mere commodities. They are the abiding passion of their supporters.
"We forget that at our peril."
Turning to the England national team, who resume their World Cup qualifying exploits this week, Triesman said he had some sympathy with the growing call for more domestically trained players.
"Our national team shows greater resolve after some poor years ...but our historic under-achievement needs remedying," he said.
"We need our senior men's team to do well and in Fabio Capello and the players I'm sure we have that capacity.
"But that capacity has certain limits and we need to acknowledge that the number of eligible England players is declining too far too fast.
"England fans rightly demand more and they want it now or at least in very near future. England can't be like an aircraft carrier in which largely foreign fighters take off, however brilliant their engineering."
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