The Rangers FC 2012/2013

There are lots of examples around the footballing world where two clubs fall under common control. Never seems to be an issue as long as the two clubs are in different associations....as Newcastle and Rangers are.

 

It is illegal for someone to own controlling shares in more than one club. Ashley only owns 9% of the Ibrox team but it is clear for all to see he is pulling the strings there now.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/11596268.Rangers_fans_call_for_Ashley_probe/

That excerpt is from the letter written by the RST.

If Newcastle Utd and Rangers were to meet in the Europa League next season there would be a clear conflict of interest.

 

there are a lot of instances of common ownership of several clubs. man city control man city, nycfc in mls next year, and a team in australia. red bull has teams in USA, austria, and germany. cellino (i think?) has teams in italy, spain, and england. vincent tan just bought into LAFC as well as owning cardiff city.

 

Yes but NYC cannot play Manchester City in any competitive match so there is no conflict of interest that can occur. Rangers could quite conceivably play Newcastle Utd in a European competition where a conflict of interest most certainly would occur.

As for the others what amount of ownership do they have of those teams...?

This is where the whole Mike Ashley affair comes into question. On paper he is the owner of Newcastle Utd but only has 9% share holding in Rangers meaning he is not the owner.

However, he has already positioned people on the board at Rangers and, for all intensive purposes, is running the club in every detail other than name only. This is why the RST are asking for immediate clarification on this very important issue.

 

I think it is a stretch to say it is illegal. Each association sets its own rules/guidelines. An example that comes to mind is the guy that owns Watford.....an Italian guy that filled their squad a couple of years ago with players on loan from the Italian and Spanish clubs he owns. The football league had to clamp down on loan rules but the fact remains that he owns multiple clubs in multiple associations that could play each other in competitive matches if they all qualified for European competition.

If it was up to the authorities (presumably FIFA and its member organizations) there might be an issue or two raised about the whole MLS structure...no?

Even your example that Man City and NYCFC could not play each other in competitive matches is a bit off.....you and I may not but I am pretty sure FIFA consider the world club competiton as the top of their competitive club pyramid (trying to establish it as a sort of Club World Cup).

 

right. the biggest issue is the board favoring one shareholder to the exclusion and detriment of the other shareholders, and RST have a legit gripe if the allegations in their letter are true. but the ownership issue is minor and secondary compared to that.

 

his name is giampaolo pozzo. he's who i was thinking of earlier. massimo cellino, who i mentioned above, owns leeds currently. at the time he bought leeds, he also owned cagliari in italy. the courts approved his purchase of leeds despite still owning cagliari at the time of the deal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Cellino

 

I don't think the RST are concerned over FIFA regulations but UEFA regulations which are far more meaningful to Rangers and Newcastle Utd in the world of European club football.

Yes. I get that but I thought there was another issue, and maybe I'm incorrect and barking up the wrong tree, but the other issue being the club falling foul of UEFA rules and being sanctioned for it. At the very least the whole Ashley affair is murky to say the least and needs clarification.

As I said previously, at this minute in time there is no dual ownership issue as Ashley only owns 9% of shares in The Rangers but it is prohibited under UEFA rules to have control of more than one member club.

Having an interest in another football club has been defined by UEFA as meaning the following:

c) no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than
one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such control or
influence being defined in this context as:

• i) holding a majority of the shareholders’ voting rights;
• ii) having the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the
• administrative, management or supervisory body of the club;
• iii) being a shareholder and alone controlling a majority of the
• shareholders’ voting rights pursuant to an agreement entered into with
• other shareholders of the club; or
• iv) being able to exercise by any means a decisive influence in the
• decision-making of the club.

Look at the above underlined rule taken from UEFA's website. Does Ashley have that influence currently at Ibrox is my question.

Nevertheless living in Newcastle as I have done for the past 5yrs or so I can only think this is (again) not going to end well for the Ibrox club.

Mike Ashley made the majority of his vast fortune through corporate retail management. He already has his fingers in The Rangers retail, media and image rights. I would imagine that is his top priority and not the team on the park unfortunately.

 

ah. i get what you're saying. uefa doesn't care about the other guys because their teams aren't qualifying for CL or EL.

 

Man city could play NYCFC or Melbourne city in the FIFA club world cup (Melbourne more likely). The odds of that happening are very small, but still.

Also doesn't Red Bull control a team in Austria and one in Germany? (on top of their other teams in Brazil, USA, etc.)