According to the Daily Telegraph, a recently agreed amendment to Premier League rules means Alisher Usmanov will continue to be frozen out of boardroom matters at the Emirates for the foreseeable future.
Red and White Holdings, controlled by the Uzbek oligarch and his business partner Farhad Moshiri, have been voraciously snapping up shares since the takeover of Stan Kroenke with the aim of reaching the 30 per cent threshold which would give them access to the club’s books.
Had they been successful before the end of last season the duo could potentially have secured the rights and responsibilities of ‘club directors’ with Premier League regulations defining the position as someone either on the board or in possession of 30 per cent of the club or more.
However, in a twist which will no doubt please the current Gunners board, the Premier League (backed by all clubs) have decided to alter the wording, thus closing the loophole.
Usmanov will therefore not gain access to the grotty details of Abou Diaby’s monthly earnings, won’t find out the meat percentage of the burgers sold in Block 4, can’t complain about Emirates paying us seven-and-twelfty to plaster their name on shirts, and will never meet the Senderos-Cygan-Stepanovs Cerberus which guards Wenger’s Duck Tales-style pool of cash under the dugout.
It basically means he’s not allowed to satisfy himself that the club’s record of material transactions is complete and correct – a position he’d likely have taken advantage of to cause mischief in the press.
While Ivan Gazidis and fellow board members will no doubt be delighted by the latest news, it does cause something of a headache for Usmanov. Unable to punch Peter Hill-Wood and Sir Chips Keswick in the ribs, by publicly questioning Arsenal’s spending, and with no avenue to pursue a hostile takeover he’s even more stuck than he was before.
As the Telegraph points out, individual shares have topped the £16,000 mark during Usmanov’s recent spell as an active buyer; should he renege on his interest that price should drop allowing small shareholders the opportunity to once again buy into Arsenal.
Fuck.
We need Alisher Usmanov as a board member. He’s willing to spend so I don’t know why Gazidis and co wouldn’t let him in. Please we need to invest heavily in our club so we can win tropihies. Arsenal is not a pure club we only have stingy & selfish people heading the club…smh!
You might want jump wagons to the Chelsea or City wagon. They cater more to your short term adrenaline seeking needs.
Yes, short term planning is bad. The long term plan to leave Emirates, stop winning things, sell all the quality players, buy more kids and tippy tap so much that we forget how to roll our sleeves up is working better with each year. GAYYYYSSSS for life.
Byyyeeeeee xxx
Now that we’re on a much more stable position wrt the stadium loan, we’ve stopped signing kids, haven’t you noticed?
Now that the FP are going to come into force, all those clubs with tiny ass stadiums who don’t generate enough revenue on their own will SUFFEEEERRRRR.
What do you care Denilson…. You won’t even be a player for us next season…. to me that makes our short term planning just fine…..
I honestly just don’t want Usmanov’s dirty money! Yes, we have to sign players but we don’t need a careless spending spree, we are just fine. And just in case you haven’t noticed, summer is barely half way and we are already doing alright, it seems. Fine, they may well be rumours but they may well be true too. I mean, last summer alone we signed what- 6 players? Ok Park doesn’t really count but surely Mert, Arteta, Santos, Gerv and even Jenkinson made albeit varying but good contributions! Now, already we have Goldy Poldy looking class! Who knows, maybe… Read more »
And for all this complaining, if all those with their panties in a bunch about Arsene as a manager and Arsenal as a board and as a team hoarding or mising or whatever you want to call ‘saving money to pay off debts’, then we in fact, really don’t need Usmanov’s ‘dirty’ money. Arsenal is no hoe!
Have the schools kicked out for the summer holidays already ??
Oh fuck off! You’re the sort of person who ruins the internet by spouting off ignorant and ill-conceived opinions. Just fuck off, we don’t need fans like you
Probably one of the best putdowns I’ve seen on the Internet.
everyone is entitled to an opinion, get off your high horse u twat
well said uncle sam…dont mind the fucker who thumbed u down…2 little signings and all is welll for some Arsenal funds…what hypocrites
Caribgooner…..what are Arsenal funds? Is it a collection of gay AAA, Wenger-hating pseudo ¨fans¨ like Uncle Sam,you and Denilson who, when locked in a room together, whine incessantly about how badly managed things are at AFC and how much more they know about running (opps I meant ruining) the Club?
Are Arsenal funds actually that fictitious pile of cash that you clowns think the Board is hoarding in the event of a Football apocalypse or the availability of Messi on half-wages? Please do tell us!
Didn’t want him involved yesterday, don’t want him today and still won’t tomorrow. I just want The Arsenal to do well. Simple.
Wise words….. wise words
You should know, Gandalf
I think one of the best things about arsenal is that we are run in the best way in the premier league and that is something that many people outside of the club respect and that i personally love about the club, I think it would be far more satisfying to win trophies as a self sustainable club with class then to become a playboy for a billionaire
Love the ‘Mr. Creosote’ photo!
Would Alisha like to have a ‘Waffer-thin mint’? Lets hope so!
😉
Damn, been taken down. ;-(
The original photo showed Alisha’s head on Mr Creasote’s body BTW.
Instant gratification. That’s all Usmanov represents. As we should have learned from life, instant gratification is a fool’s errand. It’s becoming clearer that many fans are more focused on what can be attained today as opposed to what we can attain tomorrow and beyond. That’s not a good approach for school, careers, relationships, and certainly not business. Any consideration of how it was Usmanov became the Usmanov we know? Anyone? How did he become wealthy? Would it be okay if a profiteer of the blood diamond trade run Arsenal, so long as he pays £40M transfer fees and we win… Read more »
Perfectly said
I searched the internet good for a while and I could never find anything linking Usmanov to Blood Diamonds. In fact if you google Usmanov blood diamond, the first thing that pops up, is your comment. If you can provide us with proof he made his money in blood diamonds im all for it, but if you cant dont go spreading shit about people.
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/news.aspx?boneid=918&objid=2670 – This should answer some of your question but as with all news stories, there are 2 sides and we won’t ever get them.
I read your article. Mentions nothing of Blood Diamonds. Maybe he is a bad guy, but you have no proof whatsoever and I cant even find anything mentioning it other than this comment right here. I wont come back looking at this again so if you respond ill never see it. Maybe you just dont know what blood diamonds are eh?
I’ve never heard anything about blood diamonds in connection with Usmanov. Lots of other companies involved with mining other metals and gear out of the ground, but nothing to do with African diamonds. The first I ever heard of Usmanov was in Craig Murray’s book about when he was the ambassador to Uzbekistan (which is easily Googlable). It made a good few allegations about the guy that in my view were a good deal dodgier than blood diamond-ing. You should have seen my face when a few months after I read that book, Usmanov popped up as an Arsenal investor… Read more »
All I know is that Stan Kroenke is a man who decided he wanted to run sports teams and set up companies specifically for that purpose; who comes from a system where people’s pasts are on record and where people are accountable. This to me is preferable to a man who was the son of a Communist law official in a land where laws didn’t mean anything, who was inserted into privilege on the basis of that fact and whose lawyers have actively sought to prevent anyone finding out too much about him. And who just decided he might as… Read more »
Bring me Kroenke and the Wookie
I still want Stan and his crew to at least feel threatened.
I hunger!
Usmanov really does have quite a loose-fitting face, doesn’t he?
Theres always one aint there. Tell you what wardy go
play with your healing stones & tarot
cards & hug a tree or two.
This is for you uncle sam.
Your title should read ‘Premier League aid Kroenke in battle against Usmanov’.
It’s still unclear whether Kroenke is any better than Usmanov. They both seem to be in it for the wrong reasons.
Exactly.
Well done Uncle Sam. Obviously the minority AKB cocksuckers are thumbing you down.
Great language…….really describes the AAA cheering section to a tee!
You mean the minority that overwhelmingly voted him down? Strange that.
Equally strange to invoke the Arsene Knows Best contingency in a post about who owns Arsenal; like Arsene actually has fuck all to do with that.
Lastly, did we not buy a German international a month ago?
Simon we have a playboy billionaire. Just that he’s a tight one that doesn’t spend money.
Doh.
Billionaires are billionaires because they don’t just throw money around.
Usmanov = hotdog with dick inside. Kroenke= shit sandwich…….They both suck. Usmanov is in the Abramovich mold and Kroenke’s teams all suck ass in America. Do a little research on Kroenke before backing him. Do we want a shitty owner with shitty teams?
“Kroenke is the only overseas investor in English football who has also invested in football in his home market. He invested $70m in a new 18,000 stadium for the Colorado Rapids and surrounded it with 24 youth soccer pitches – the largest complex of its kind in America”
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/stan-kroenke-the-americans-other-teams-2266295.html
So I did some “research” for you and found a couple of articles (the one listed shows the success his teams have had) and a quote that show your anti-Kroenke comment is based on nothing, absolutely nothing
Kroenke also owns the St. Louis Rams in American Football. AKA tied with 2 other teams for the worst fucking team in the league for a long time now.
But if you knew anything about how American Football is run you would know that very little of that is down to ownership. It’s literally the luck of the draw in that game. You can win the Superbowl one year (as they did little over ten years ago) and all that does is give the other shitty teams in the league first dibs on the best players coming through in the next season. The Rams are in the middle of having to wait their turn to be good again.
Not sure why someone thumbed down TIBC when all he did was state the absolute fact about american football. The worst teams get the best straight-out-of-college players to make it a fairer contest. Comparing St Louis Rams to Arsenal is like comparing the British cycling team to the French fencing team. Just because it’s sports doesn’t mean they are the same. The better comparison would be with the Colorado Rapids who have recently won the title and also the amount of money he spent to improve the infrastructure (as shown in the quote I provided above), shows that he is… Read more »
You guy are behaving worse than the russian mafia. Cowards. Let him in fairplay. Stop behaving like pussies.
Fuck this bandwagon is getting full.
Stan is doing such an amazing job with us so far, we are on the verge of selling our best player and captain for the second year running. Next walcot then soon jack. And still we sleep walk into stans bedroom and wipe his fucking arse.
Have u only been following the club for two years? i think u will find we have sold our last 3 captains at least and rvp could be the fourth.
It’s sad that I thumbed this up by mistake. Just sad. Not as sad as your misguided perception of the team we all love. We are all entitled to our opinions but well, that’s not even an opinion, just sounds like a wish some delusional Sp*d makes before he goes to sleep.
I really want usmanov to be on board bcoz he is our only hope
He will definitely spend millions for new good players as he is a supporter of the club not like kronke who only wants to make profit and has made arsenal his profit making business
Learn to spell before commenting
Well kick ’em out of here and get us …who?
While I can understand some fans belief that any change is a change for the better, they are way off the mark regarding Usmanov. All you have to do is look at what the man has done elsewhere to know he has absolutely no interest in Arsenal FC as a club with a rich history and only as a commodity that can be stripped of its soul for profit. And what’s depressing is just how any commentators here think the opposite: that Usmanov will come along with bags of cash and like Abramovich spend upwards of a billion enabling him… Read more »
So, kroenke is not interested in money eh?
I’m not sure Kronke is interested in anything. It’s debatable whether he actually has a pulse. But he’s the epitome of the word ‘benign’ when compared to Usmanov.
Neither of them care about Arsenal in the way you or I do. But at least Kronke is rational when it comes to the well-being of the club. Whereas Usmanov would actively tear the club apart if he thought it would make him a single rouble more. It’s a different view of the rational.
You do know that most owners no longer make any money out of football teams, as is the cost of running them, transfers, wages, fines, etc… Also with £1.8 billion behind him and also his wife’s fortune, I doubt money is his main driving force with Arsenal.
I think its amazing that people can look at Stan Kroenke, a man who has spent almost the last two decades buying and developing sports teams when he could have stayed in his previous line of shopping centres and real estate (i.e. shit that actually makes money), and come on here and go: “He’s not interested in sport – just money.”
I may be wrong, but I don’t think Abramovic was a loyal Chelsea fan when growing up. Who knows what the future holds, but I daresay if he owned it he would take more of an interest.
I’m not pro-Usmanov, I just didn’t really get that part of your comment. Let’s hope FFP actually works in the way we think it’s supposed to.
Isn’t this called ‘FIXING’ in the first place.
Can an official body like Premier League ethically be part of this kind of ‘power-play’, knowing the parties involved?
Where is the fairplay? I am NOT siding usmanov or anyone but I see cowards and hypocrites here aplenty.
To put in print that usmanov will cause mischief in the press if he could obtain information about the club’s spending is both prejudgmental and slanderous.
Could not agree more….if this story is true and I have no reason to doubt the venerable Arseblog then the Premier league and “all the clubs” may have acted illegally…..I say “May” because its not my area of law…can anybody clear this up? it is definitley correct to say that “a position he’d likely have taken advantage of to cause mischief in the press” is slanderous but Alisher couldnt give a shit what Arseblog News thinks………. presumably
the league is basically a cartel. they can get away with collusion; tis all legal
I would rather like the details of how the board deal with the clubs financials to come out however. Usmanof(whatever) is clearly not someone I want running the club, but I don’t particularly trust the current board either..
I say its a good thing we are keeping out the underwater toad king from star wars.
Frankly I don’t have any time for Usmanov, BUT, I hate the way the club is effectively in single ownership.
Arsenal need to have plural ownership to stop the muppets from getting so complacent that they treat us with even more contempt.
If the guy gets 30% then stop fucking around and give him the seat on the board his holding more than deserves.
Damn right Mystic. The bloke owns 30% but is refused a seat on the board – that’s a joke. There is no reason to trust Kroenke anymore than Usmanov.
all i ask is that the board findsd a position on the board for an arsenal nut in David Dein
Usmanov mustn’t be allowed anywhere near the board. We must continue on the path that we are currently on. After seven years of successfully making lots of money but no trophies, there should be absolutely no change of direction.
Our wonderful American owner will turn us into European champions – but only after he has made as much cash as possible.
So Usmanov must be kept out.
Fatheadgooner……..What do you know of either Usmanov or Kroenke’s plans and intentions for AFC? Until you can come back with some reliable and verifiable facts, stick your head back up the collective AAA poopchutes where you germinate your fetid, vitriolic opinions.
You air are a cunt. If you disagree with what a poster is saying, articulate why. He was clearly being sarcastic.
*you sir, are a cunt.
Our wonderful American owner will turn Arsenal into a an English version of the St Louis Rams. And folks, they suck out loud.
[…] 来源：[Arseblog News] […]
Reason not to trust Usmanov……he has previous. (Would his lawyers contact me?). Glad he’s been outmanoeuvred and outalishered.
Arsenal fans are delusional we are not winning for 8 year
Then what the fuck are you doing here?? Go and support the Chavs!!
seconded
How did you cope when we went without a trophy right through the 70’s and into the 80’s?
I dislike both Usmanov and Kroenke. We should be run by the fans collectively. Hate all this single owner crap happening. Football is a people’s sport. All this billionaires playing football manager at respective clubs is just sickening. To those who want Usmanov to pump billions into the club. Think it this way. He has to compete with all the billionaire owners, and he wont win any of them. Especially the Arabs at PSG and Man City & i am hearing Monaco is being bought by Arabs as well. I rather compete with financial stability at the club, then spending… Read more »
The thought of Arsenal being run by any of you pillocks… fuckin ell..
“WE LOST 1-0 TO WEST BROM! I’M SELLING MY SHARES! SACK EVERYONE!”
Usmanov loves our club so, so much he instructed West End libel lawyers to intimidate Blogs and this site a couple of years back threatening closure, damages and a final injunction. Strangely, I think he was being advised by “David £75m Dein” at the time. That must make it alright then because DD is such a lovely chap with our best interests at heart (sarcasm).
Short memories Voldemort and FatGooner? Or perhaps you just prefer to look the other way hoping sugar Daddy Usmanov buys you that mocking bird…?
Soon out big sponsorships are up for renewal and with the extra income from tv rights etc arsenal with its strict control on spending will be quids in. Is that going to go on players ? Is it bollox, the only reason Stan is here is to fleece our club of the potential profits that will soon be coming. Let’s see when the big money comes in from the emirates and Nike if then we go out and spend the whole of the profits like we are told we do now but clearly don’t. With Stan as the owner we… Read more »
Voldermort – what a pathetic post. You haven’t even tried to explain why you think Fat U would be any different from Stan. Go on. Try. We await your wisdom. He won’t of course. He’d be worse. Far worse. My evidence: his previous threats against this site and his history in his home country. You didn’t mention Fat U’s attack this site. why not? Did you know about this or are you a recent “fan”? How does that work Voldemort? How do you reconcile a billionaire oligarch (possibly advised by David Dein btw) stamping on a fan site with your… Read more »
And yet you’ve provided no evidence whatsoever to back up your opinions. You’re just Usmanov’s sock puppet as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve got no time for Usmanov, but some transparency about what’s happening in the books won’t be the worst thing in the world, would it?
The opinions expressed by most here intrigue me. Many express polarised views and are venomously certain that either Kroenke or Usmanov are the worst thing. I am not sure either are good for Arsenal longterm but only time will tell. One thing is certain, football is a valuable business nowadays and inevitably the richest individuals/groups are the only people that can afford to buy clubs. Arsenal started to try and do something about this with the Arsenal Fan Share Scheme. The last I heard this is now in limbo. This is a real shame, it would have made Arsenal a… Read more »
What was wrong with the comment ?
Daddy!
You promise me Arsenal and M’Villa!
I WANT NOW!!!!
Yes Usmanov is a villain with a very dirty past. Yes Arsenal is run the correct way. And yes we have a large stadium with great revenue and a massive turnover of merchandise worldwide. All of the above will stand us in good stead when fair play comes in. However will UEFA expel the likes of Man Shity, chelski manure and numerous other top over spending clubs in Europe from the CL. If they do, we will again compete for trophies, if they don’t, bribes and loopholes in FairPlay will exist. Therefore I understand alot of fans see usmonov as… Read more »
Financial Fair Play is a load of bollocks. It will not work. Anybody who thinks that the sponsors and TV companies which pump tens of millions of euros into the Champions’ League will allow Platini to ban the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona from the competition is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. And once Platini backs down from the first challenge to FFP, the entire farcical policy will collapse. And Chelsea and Man City would simply take Uefa to court if they tried to single them out. Platini was a brilliant footballer, but is a useless administrator. I actually… Read more »
real madrid and barcelona operate at least slightly within their budget. They’re trying to stop clubs that go from midtable shit to winning titles by simply outspending every single other club with money they didnt earn.
In all honesty I dont think a champions league without City or Chelsea is something television cares about that much, we pretty much had it this year and it went just fine.
Tomc. You really need to read my post again mate, not once did I mention the fat Russian. Not once did I say he would be my choice over silent Stan. What I did day is that Stan and his silent ways are not good for the club, I stand by that. As for who should take over, who knows I’m just a humble season ticket holder of over 30 years and at this moment in time I don’t believe the club is being run in the best interests of the fans. Il leave who should run the club to… Read more »
Voldermort – I take that. My bad. You didn’t say you were an Usmanov supporter just anti-Stan. Anti-Stan is not my beef. The pro-Usmanov is and I get frustrated at their refusal to tackle to serious concerns re U.
My apologies therefore for the mistake and the tone of my post.
I think it would be nice to have a majority shareholder who attends more than two games a season.
Say what you like about Abramovich (sorry for spelling), at least he knows what his football ground looks like.
That football ground does not belong to Chelsea. It belongs to a supporter’s trust. So Abromovich know what Chelsea’s rented premises look like.
Will see how this summer goes. Last summer was the most we ever bought in Wenger history after the fiasco? I haven’t had time to do the stats, would love to know how last season spending compared to previous seasons. Onto this summer, we will see what “exciting news” the club will bring to us. From the rumblings going on, it could be a good summer. We have to wait for Euro2012 to end to find out. Hopefully, and I am sure all the fans will do the same, we get our business done and dusted early and if RVP… Read more »
Tomc, I didn’t know that the fat Russian had a pop at this site but you really should not equate that lack of knowledge and assume that one is a “recent fan” as you laughingly put it. I’ve been posting here for a year or so since I got an i phone but having been going over arsenal even before mobile phones where invented. Fancy that eh. A time before keyboard warriors were even heard of. please let me know how many years I have to post on this site before I can be known as a proper fan like… Read more »
I think Joey Barton is a right cunt.
I think Na$ri is a total cunt!
i bet if usmanov was British you’d be backing him all the way
scared of a bit of foreign currency, dont be look at citeh and chelski
cash =titles nad with the base we got it only needs a couple of star players added, and this board aint never gona fork out 25mill so let the fat russian in ,
please sell gervinho as well
many thanks
gustard
so, to sum up:
let’s be just like those cunts that we hate so much, citeh and chel$cum
hmmmm
anyone else see a tiny chink in the armour of that particular argument?
you only hate them as they are doing better then use ie winning titles while we struggle and sell our best players we dont hate randy lerners villa to the same extent do we and they have a money bags owner and all we need is to let the fatso onto the board hes not gonna become owner like that is he, and to be fair to the russian he has paid to buy them shares imagine if you had bought 30 odd% of some company and the tossers with the rest wouldnt let you have a say on your… Read more »
amazingly you are wrong about that. i hate chelsea because they’re knuckle dragging small-club-mentality fans are as nasty as john terry, their ground looks like a four year old on acid made it from melting lego, and that’s better than it used to be when the terraces were there, when there used to be fucking signs saying “Pitch: that way –>” because you were a fucking mile and a half away, they used to shove us through metal detectors on the way in and keep us there so long after that we were in danger of missing the east enders… Read more »
Is that the same Randy Lerner who couldn’t get 4th, ran out of money, had to stop spending and start selling players and employed a ginger testicle? Is it that Randy Lerner?
the ownership of the club is a problem, that’s beyond doubt and the people to blame for that are the shareholders who sold out, sadly – the very people we all wish were back in control (for the most part) and now we have simplistic asset stripper vs megalomaniac destroyer arguments all over the shop in reality this ruling is neither here nor there – usmanov can exert pressure on kronke whether he is on the board or not. it’s entirely plausible to suggest that he’s more capable of exerting pressure from his current position on the outside than he… Read more »
Why should Usmanov invest his money if he is being frozen out?
Or to put it another way, how would the club be able to keep him from the board were he to offer investment in the team with no strings attached, which he can do freely? or could it be that there are significant strings attached, as you’d expect there to be when he’s already spent several hundred million £ on shares? fact is neither of us know the answer but it is incredibly unlikely that usmanov is the simplistic answer to our problems that some appear to think on the other hand i totally agree with the idea that kronke… Read more »
@ sam: You make Stan Kroenke sound like Mitt Romney when he was at Bain Capital…Holy shit, maybe that comparison isn’t so far-fetched after all!
Holy….’cunt’ has officially won the word of the day in this comment string. I suppose we can give it a trophy. The Emirates Cup isn’t in use this year……
If you want to be like Chelsea and Man City, then go on and just buy their shirts and be done with it.
The business direction of this club won’t be changing in the near future – it will continue to be run like a business.
If you do not like silent owners, do you prefer yappy, meddling owners like Sullivan/Gold? Gillette/Hicks? Maybe the Venky boys?
Yaay for many more seasons of mediocrity while the big clubs invest money and win things. Even Chelsea are starting to look like a bigger brand and that would have been unthinkable just a few years back. Kroenke meanwhile has hit the jackpot and will continue to siphon money out while not spending a penny.
The Chelsea that finished 6th and got very very lucky on their way to the cl final?
Don’t trust either one of them – at least the Russians watch football, that’s a good thing
[…] Moving on, I read this article, regarding the position of Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov in the Arsenal board. I am not much of a commerce/finance man and hence I am not able to really decipher all of it, but according to the new Premier League rules, which were agreed upon by all the 20 member clubs, Usmanov will be kept out of all boardroom matters. […]