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Middle Eastern billionaires line up to buy 10 more English clubs

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Saudi sweep: Middle Eastern billionaires line up to buy 10 more English clubsA further 10 English clubs are being lined up for takeovers by oil-rich Saudi Arabian businessmen, according to one of the Middle East game''s most influential figures.Following Portsmouth''s purchase by Ali Abdullah Al Faraj, the strength of interest in owning a Premier League or Championship team has been revealed by Dr Hafez Almedlej, chairman of the Saudi Professional League Commission.Dr Almedlej insisted more investors will follow if the Fratton Park takeover proves to be a success. ''If, in a year''s time there was no backfire and everyone was settled, I am sure at least 10 more investors will come,'' he said. ''Not necessarily to the Premier League. They might come and buy some clubs at the Championship level.''Last year I had some people interested in Championship clubs and making enquiries. Their specific needs are that they wanted a club that has a high average crowd, with good facilities - and clubs in London.''Al Faraj

Liverpool are the latest club to be linked to a wealthy Saudi, with Prince Faisal said to be in talks about a takeover at Anfield.Dr Almedlej, speaking at the Leaders in Football conference, insisted the English game had nothing to fear. There was no harm done for Manchester United being taken over by Americans. So why not?''If the businessmen come, inject the money and leave football decisions to the football people then it''s no problem. They just want the success. The passion comes from that. In Saudi, you have to have passion for the club.''It''s very rare to find any businessman in Saudi Arabia who does not support a British team. I think more than 20 seats in the Emirates Stadium are bought by Saudi people who attend every game whenever they are in London.''But claiming that his countrymen are not only interested in the cream of English teams, Dr Almedlej added that there could also be cases like that of Notts County in the very near future.''I think not everyone will buy a Premier League club, but buy from a lower level and try to bring them up,'' he told the conference at Stamford Bridge.''To buy a club from the First Division (The Championship) and bring it up is an even better investment.''Manchester City are the most high-profile club to have profited from a Middle East buy-out, with the investment from Sheik Mansour, of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, having helped transform the Eastlands side into genuine challengers for a Champions League qualification place, if not the title.Dr Almedlej added: ''I wrote an article seven years ago about Manchester City inviting Saudi businessman to buy them at that time when they were bottom of the second league.''On the issue of Portsmouth''s ownership, however, Dr Almedlej added that, while he is hopeful the club''s fortunes will receive a much-needed boost following Al Faraj''s takeover, he admitted the new man at Fratton Park is just as much of a mystery in his homeland.''To us, we hear rumours from the British media. I read the papers online and watch Sky News. I asked my friends and nobody knows him. For three days, I see there is no picture of him in the Saudi papers.''Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1219129/Saudi-sweep-Middle-Eastern-billionaires-line-buy-10-English-clubs.html#ixzz0TPY68jRY

..........................................................................................................................................This is interesting- at the very least it will show just where we are in the desirability stakes, the effectiveness of the investment company used by Delia to elicit a sale and also how serious Delia really is in selling up.

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Everyone should email him, hafez@medlej.com and sell Norwich City to him!

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No chance.

Unfortunately, a Middle Easern takeover by a Saudi billionaire is the antithesis of everything Delia has planned for NCFC after her demise.

He would need to settle in Norfolk, buy a turkey farm (probably) and gain a 25 year residential qualification to even be considered by her to be a fit enough person to be entrusted with her precious club.

I, personally, do not think that even David Sullivan would get past her stringent requirements.

A mere sheik has no chance.

Besides, money is ruining football these days (sic.)

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[quote user="BroadstairsR"]No chance. Unfortunately, a Middle Easern takeover by a Saudi billionaire is the antithesis of everything Delia has planned for NCFC after her demise. He would need to settle in Norfolk, buy a turkey farm (probably) and gain a 25 year residential qualification to even be considered by her to be a fit enough person to be entrusted with her precious club.

 I, personally, do not think that even David Sullivan would get past her stringent requirements.

 A mere sheik has no chance.

 Besides, money is ruining football these days (sic.)[/quote]

 

There is one wealthy Middle Eastern Royal family that lives the Norwich side of Newmarket............

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"There is one wealthy Middle Eastern Royal family that lives the Norwich side of Newmarket............"

The horse racing family? Can''t remember their name...

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[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

Might remind you of that when we are bottom of L1 next season having finally gone into admin. Anyone - ANYONE - who appraoches our club offering to invest money now should be welcomed, within reason.

Some people don''t realise how deep in the financial sh*t we are.

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[quote user="Big Dog "]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

Might remind you of that when we are bottom of L1 next season having finally gone into admin. Anyone - ANYONE - who appraoches our club offering to invest money now should be welcomed, within reason.

Some people don''t realise how deep in the financial sh*t we are.

[/quote]

And people around here thought Giovanni Di Stefano was a bad bet...

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[quote user="Big Dog "]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

Might remind you of that when we are bottom of L1 next season having finally gone into admin. Anyone - ANYONE - who appraoches our club offering to invest money now should be welcomed, within reason. Some people don''t realise how deep in the financial sh*t we are.

[/quote]I believe (though I''m not even a fag packet accountant) that if we fail to get to the Championship this season,  we will be in financial dire straights next season.

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Am I the only one that doesn''t like the idea of these random Saudi investors?It will be short term and not nessisarily the solution to footballs problems, all it will do is fund the FA''s sick drive for money to line their own pockets and delay the rules needed to progress football as a whole.Look at the hatred teams like Man City etc are looked at with by other clubs now, Chelsea too for that matter. They don''t earn titles they buy them. I have more respect for Manure and Arsenal these days, at least they give their youngsters a chance.One thing no one mentions is that if you look at Man City how many good youngsters have suffered?

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Some overseas owners are good and some aren''t.  Some British owners are good and some aren''t.

The issue here is the number of clubs potentially in overseas hands.  They have their eye on the Premiership as a global brand, and once there are enough of them it''s only a matter of time before they''ll vote themselves out of the domestic league altogether.  Arsenal v Liverpool in Singapore anyone?  Or would you prefer Chelsea v Man U in Dubai? 

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"all it will do is fund the FA''s sick drive for money to line their own pockets"

Please explain? How does the FA''s revenue relate to the ownership of football clubs?  

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[quote user="Slow The B gger Down"][quote user="Big Dog "]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

Might remind you of that when we are bottom of L1 next season having finally gone into admin. Anyone - ANYONE - who appraoches our club offering to invest money now should be welcomed, within reason. Some people don''t realise how deep in the financial sh*t we are.

[/quote]I believe (though I''m not even a fag packet accountant) that if we fail to get to the Championship this season,  we will be in financial dire straights next season.[/quote]On what do you base this belief ?

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[quote user="chicken"]Am I the only one that doesn''t like the idea of these random Saudi investors?It will be short term and not nessisarily the solution to footballs problems, all it will do is fund the FA''s sick drive for money to line their own pockets and delay the rules needed to progress football as a whole.Look at the hatred teams like Man City etc are looked at with by other clubs now, Chelsea too for that matter. They don''t earn titles they buy them. I have more respect for Manure and Arsenal these days, at least they give their youngsters a chance.One thing no one mentions is that if you look at Man City how many good youngsters have suffered? [/quote]

I don''t think anybody likes this trend, but the alternative is to be left behind and drift further into football oblivion.

As long as there are no illegalities involved, nothing can prevent it. Those that try are adopting a King Canute-like stance.

I travel abroad a lot. The bars of Singapore, KL, Bangkok, Shaghai etc. all advertise live Premiership soccer in the same way that the bars do here. It IS big time entertainment the world over and will attract big time investment.

The World gets smaller, the game gets bigger. Football (in England) cannot be exempt from internationalism, whatever form it takes.

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[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

We doon`t wunt noo truck with thum faaarriners.....

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This is one of the few things that i agree with Delia on, I would be very disappointed to see our club owned by anyone who wasn''t already a fan. NCFC isn''t some toy for a rich billionaire to play with its our club, and only a fellow fan can truly be trusted. 

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[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]This is one of the few things that i agree with Delia on, I would be very disappointed to see our club owned by anyone who wasn''t already a fan.

NCFC isn''t some toy for a rich billionaire to play with its our club, and only a fellow fan can truly be trusted. 
[/quote]

See you in League Two then....

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[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]This is one of the few things that i agree with Delia on, I would be very disappointed to see our club owned by anyone who wasn''t already a fan. NCFC isn''t some toy for a rich billionaire to play with its our club, and only a fellow fan can truly be trusted.  [/quote]With some regret I have to disagree, football has been heading in this direction for some time, so it''s a case of either getting with the modern times or fading into Fizzy pop mediocrity, if your fine with the latter then that''s ok but personally I still dream of one day our great club competing with the best of them in the top division, not necessarily becomeing the next Man United and win league title after league title but to at least be amongst them and challenge for the odd trophy every now and then. But sure I would love football to go back to the 70''s or 80''s when clubs were competing on a more level playing field and million pound players were unheard of, but that''s never going to happen so there''s bugger all choice.   

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What''s gonna happen if Middle Eastern Billionaires keep buying up clubs[:^)]

Eventually we will see them in league Two too[:O]

Football is heading somewhere I don''t want to go. But I guess the fans who go to games don''t count for much in the Billionaires Playground.

 

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[quote user="Big Dog "]

"all it will do is fund the FA''s sick drive for money to line their own pockets" Please explain? How does the FA''s revenue relate to the ownership of football clubs?  

[/quote]Simple.As others have stated the more foreign ownership there is the more chance of a All Star European League or of matches being played away from the UK altogether.At the end of the day this could increase the TV money which the FA gets a chunk of, club fees etc etc etc.If the FA wasn''t all about the money it would have taken more of a stance against the spending spree these clubs go on. But they wont because if the best players play in the premiership then they can demand more in TV revenue / sponserships etc.Football should be competetive on the pitch - not by who can scrape the most together and buy as many of the best players as possible.For me, before any more ludicrous take-overs happen I would like FIFA and the FA to tighten up, introduce a basic european wage cap. By that I mean a wage cap for how much a player can earn without bonuses etc. That allows flexibility and also means if a player wants to earn more they have to earn it on the pitch not by flapping their arms and running to the nearest tabloid ala half the Chelski team.The planned rules regarding homegrown youngsters are good although Liverpool proved with Glen Johnson you can get around that with money but at least it keeps our players in the leagues. I also like their idea of implementing a rule that states only money the club raises through revenues can be spent on players. A wealthy owner can put money into the club but not directly into player funds etc. In otherwords they can speculate to accumalate but they can not write a blank cheque for the manager to go shopping with. It would mean that clubs would have to be financially sound and also that the fans would once again be the most important part of a club.All of this would probably put off a lot of foreign investors who are not buisinessmen and who want some sort of toy or even to get themselves UK citizenship.

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It''s 8 years since a club outside Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man. Utd got within 22 points of the League Title. None of us compete with them anyway. If Man. City buy their way in to that group this season then the big four will still be first in line for further investment to keep up. That league is not the one that we used to challenge in back in our glorious benchmarking past.

 

 

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[quote user="Say Hello To The Angels"]This is one of the few things that i agree with Delia on, I would be very disappointed to see our club owned by anyone who wasn''t already a fan.

NCFC isn''t some toy for a rich billionaire to play with its our club, and only a fellow fan can truly be trusted. 
[/quote]

So do you feel your trust in the fan we have in charge at the moment has been rewarded then? [:^)]

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[quote user="chicken"][quote user="Big Dog "]

"all it will do is fund the FA''s sick drive for money to line their own pockets"

Please explain? How does the FA''s revenue relate to the ownership of football clubs?  

[/quote]

Simple.

As others have stated the more foreign ownership there is the more chance of a All Star European League or of matches being played away from the UK altogether.

At the end of the day this could increase the TV money which the FA gets a chunk of, club fees etc etc etc.

If the FA wasn''t all about the money it would have taken more of a stance against the spending spree these clubs go on. But they wont because if the best players play in the premiership then they can demand more in TV revenue / sponserships etc.

Football should be competetive on the pitch - not by who can scrape the most together and buy as many of the best players as possible.

For me, before any more ludicrous take-overs happen I would like FIFA and the FA to tighten up, introduce a basic european wage cap. By that I mean a wage cap for how much a player can earn without bonuses etc. That allows flexibility and also means if a player wants to earn more they have to earn it on the pitch not by flapping their arms and running to the nearest tabloid ala half the Chelski team.

The planned rules regarding homegrown youngsters are good although Liverpool proved with Glen Johnson you can get around that with money but at least it keeps our players in the leagues. I also like their idea of implementing a rule that states only money the club raises through revenues can be spent on players. A wealthy owner can put money into the club but not directly into player funds etc. In otherwords they can speculate to accumalate but they can not write a blank cheque for the manager to go shopping with. It would mean that clubs would have to be financially sound and also that the fans would once again be the most important part of a club.

All of this would probably put off a lot of foreign investors who are not buisinessmen and who want some sort of toy or even to get themselves UK citizenship.
[/quote]

I think you are confusing the FA with the Premier League pal. The FA has campaigned against the level of debt, and games abroad.

Get your facts right.

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

What''s gonna happen if Middle Eastern Billionaires keep buying up clubs[:^)]

Eventually we will see them in league Two too[:O]

Football is heading somewhere I don''t want to go. But I guess the fans who go to games don''t count for much in the Billionaires Playground.

 

[/quote]A sheik bought Notts County - they are already in league 2.  The reason for buying the oldest club in league football was likely to do with Saudi Arabia wanting to host the World Cup in 2018.  The richest men in the world want our game, what''s to stop them ?  It''s not like the FA or football league are bothered about stopping them, even though nobody seems to know who Portsmouth 3rd owner this year is or where his money is from (including the guy running the Saudi league), I guess the FA think of him as fit and proper...

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

We doon`t wunt noo truck with thum faaarriners.....

[/quote]

You''re not funny. There are foreigners, and there are foreigners, in rich Arab countries workers from the Indian sub-continent get treated like slaves and the Taliban is partially bank-rolled by private donations from the Persian Gulf states, discrimination and corruption are rife and human rights ignored. If you are comfortable with these types running our football club then so be it. Personally I would rather us drop into administration.

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[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

We doon`t wunt noo truck with thum faaarriners.....

[/quote]

You''re not funny. There are foreigners, and there are foreigners, in rich Arab countries workers from the Indian sub-continent get treated like slaves and the Taliban is partially bank-rolled by private donations from the Persian Gulf states, discrimination and corruption are rife and human rights ignored. If you are comfortable with these types running our football club then so be it. Personally I would rather us drop into administration.

[/quote]

Hooray!

When Sullivan was linked to the club we had people on here claiming the porn baron had spawned rapists. Now people are saying we would have links to the Taliban if a Middle East investor came in...

You could not make this sh*t up.

From my point of view, the best bet we ever had was Cullen - and if he wasn''t good enough for the Old Trout no-one will be...and it seems some of our moronic fans agree.

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[quote user="Big Dog "][quote user="Mustachio Furioso"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]Last thing we need.[/quote]

We doon`t wunt noo truck with thum faaarriners.....

[/quote]

You''re not funny. There are foreigners, and there are foreigners, in rich Arab countries workers from the Indian sub-continent get treated like slaves and the Taliban is partially bank-rolled by private donations from the Persian Gulf states, discrimination and corruption are rife and human rights ignored. If you are comfortable with these types running our football club then so be it. Personally I would rather us drop into administration.

[/quote]

Hooray!

When Sullivan was linked to the club we had people on here claiming the porn baron had spawned rapists. Now people are saying we would have links to the Taliban if a Middle East investor came in...

You could not make this sh*t up.

From my point of view, the best bet we ever had was Cullen - and if he wasn''t good enough for the Old Trout no-one will be...and it seems some of our moronic fans agree.

[/quote]

I would gladly have Sullivan running the Club. Now can you please disprove any of my statements... Moron.

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