Premier League bungs inquiry opposed by four leading clubs
Posted in News on Thursday March 9th, 2006 11:54am
From the Telegraph:
Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all opposed the Premier League bungs inquiry being led by Lord Stevens and his firm Quest.
It was only after a debate lasting more than an hour that the other 16 clubs overcame their resistance.
The Daily Telegraph understands that when the Premier League clubs met in London on Feb 16, the big four queried the need for an inquiry.
One source told me: “The feeling was that the Premier League was reacting too quickly to unsubstantiated rumours in a newspaper.”
In the end the clubs approved the inquiry but after carefully worded terms and conditions were agreed.
And unlike the bungs inquiry of the 1990s, the report due in September may never be made public. Even the terms of reference and the procedure Stevens and his team will follow may not be made public.
[…]
But when the clubs met in London the idea was vigorously opposed by four clubs, with some saying the phone conversations with Scudamore had been misinterpreted.
David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester United speaking from prepared notes, revealed that he had been called out of a board meeting to take Scudamore’s call.
He wondered what purpose the inquiry would serve and advised clubs to follow United’s lead of disclosing payments made to agents, something no other club do.
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