Ashley's little war with the Telegraph

[der Berliner 3,231]

Some unnamed reporter from the Telegraph tells it how it is ... or rather, how he sees it:

 

Mike Ashley's dual control of Newcastle United and Rangers: the facts

 

Why Newcastle United and Rangers will not both be able to play in Europe under Mike Ashley

 

Newcastle United accused The Telegraph of lying in an article about why Newcastle and Rangers would not be able to play in Europe should Mike Ashley retain a management interest in both clubs.

 

The Telegraph has refuted allegations of lying and given full backing to North East football reporter Luke Edwards, who wrote the initial story.

 

Edwards put specific questions to European football's governing body, Uefa, asking them to confirm their position concerning Ashley’s involvement at both Newcastle and Rangers, and whether they would be allowed to play in European competitions together. Uefa issued a statement to the Telegraph pointing to their strict rules on the integrity of their competitions.

 

At no point have Uefa said that they would allow Rangers and Newcastle to play in Europe together or that the rules are not applicable in this case.

 

As more evidence of Ashley's influence at Rangers emerges, with manager Ally McCoist saying he has spoken to the Newcastle owner's appointed director Derek Llambias about signing players, here we outline Uefa's rules on dual ownership and why Ashley would be in breach of them as things stand.

 

Uefa regulation

 

"No club participating in a UEFA club competition may, either directly or indirectly ... have any power whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition.

 

And “no one may simultaneously be involved, either directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition."

 

How this applies to Ashley

 

Ashley is the owner of Newcastle United and sits at the head of the Newcastle board. He also holds a 9% stake in Rangers.

 

In return for a recent emergency loan (£2m which rose to £3m), he insisted that two former directors at Rangers were removed and replaced with two people of his choosing. One of these was the former Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias, who has been given the title “non-executive director” at Ibrox after initially being brought in as a “consultant”.

 

Uefa regulation

 

"No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such of control or influence being defined in this context as ...

 

ii) having the right to appoint or remove a majority of the members of the administration, management or supervisory body of the club."

 

How this applies to Ashley

 

Ashley demanded the removal of former Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace and former finance director Phil Nash at a shareholders meeting when increasing his stake in the club to around 9% in October.

 

Uefa regulation

 

"No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such of control or influence being defined in this context as ...

 

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.

 

How this applies to Ashley

 

Ashley's allies at the club give him control of 51% of the club’s shares which enabled him to call for an EGM leading to the departures of Wallace and Nash. The Scottish Football Association have asked for a meeting with Ashley to establish the extent of his influence at Rangers.

 

Uefa regulation

 

"No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such of control or influence being defined in this context as ...

 

iv) being able to exercise by any means a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club.

 

How this applies to Ashley

 

The appointment of Llambias alongside chairman David Somers gives Ashley decisive influence in the decision-making of Rangers. It has been widely reported that he has been allowed to appoint two directors of his choosing in return for emergency loans that have kept Rangers in business.

 

McCoist’s public admittance that he has been talking to Llambias about signing players in January, including targets on loan from Newcastle United, shows Ashley’s appointed director is involved heavily in the running of the football club.

 

McCoist said this week: “I’ve spoken to Derek a few times and he’s positive and keen to help. He’s still very hopeful that we can get promoted. He just said to continue doing my job, go and look at players and then we’ll have discussions.

 

“I’ve been for a look at some of Newcastle’s young players already. I cover as many games as I can. We’re looking all over the place.”

 

Ashley also controls sales of club merchandise at Rangers Retail through Sports Direct. Retail revenues are stated in the newly issued accounts to June 2014 as being worth £7.6 million, of which £1.5 million goes to Rangers and the rest to Sports Direct.

 

Uefa regulation summary

 

"If two or more clubs fail to meet the criteria aimed at ensuring the integrity of the competition, only one of them may be admitted to a UEFA club competition."

 

Telegraph

 

While we all know who is pulling the strings, nigh everything that the Telegraph claims can be shot down in flames by the Ashley crew. As for their previous article, methinks they claimed a bit more than UEFA are not allowing "dual-ownership", which caused certain replies from Newcastle et al.

 

Be that as it may, you'd wish that our club / board would have even a tenth of the balls that Ashley shows when dealing with the media.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

UEFA in their statement referred to Article 3, which prohibits both teams competing together.