This week’s Economist has a most curious article on the football business, entitled “Welcome to the beautiful game. Football clubs can easily be used as stealing machines. Here is an instruction manual. The stories are real, but most details are concealed”.
They assert, “It is a good time to enter the football racket. Banks are less generous and sentimental about loans. Tax officials are less lenient, too, as Rangers, a big Glasgow club, discovered”.
“Set up a holding company (or a nest of them) in a discreet jurisdiction, as many owners do, and you have a money-laundering and embezzlement machine at your disposal.
“Exaggerating the attendance at matches lets you run some of the dirty takings from your previous career through the turnstiles, turning them into legitimate income (this particular ruse works best if you buy a middling club, where games are not routinely sold out).”
They conclude, “Some national associations do a spot of due diligence on new owners, but this is unlikely to interfere with your plans.”
Brazil, Balkans, Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria all get a mention but there was only the one club got a name check.
Nest of holding companies in discreet jurisdictions, money-laundering, embezzlement, exaggerated attendances, dirty previous businesses!! Read it and weep, football fans, just don’t expect the blazers to watch out for your best interests.
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googybhoy ♥ celtic
20:19 on 14 July, 2013
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I heard that as well and thought to myself this is unquestionably a hun. I switched it off as I don’t like cricket either ;-)
HT
I am going to Belfast.
What are your travel arrangements?
TT
I have a friend who wants to buy Celtic shares.
Who do you contact to do this?
TT
Tinytim
He should be able to do it through his bank ( if he/she lives on the UK). Otherwise contact a stockbroking firm.
Jimbo
dettolandblackash
20:32 on 14 July, 2013
Email sent mate.
Tinytim
Booked ferry this afternoon and a cheap hotel, staying in Belfast on Wednesday night.
Jimbo67
Cheers ,
that is exactly what I have told him.
I was really looking for a recommendation from someone who had recently used a stockbroker , and found them easy to deal with.
TT
HT
When do you arrive in Belfast city centre.
I thought that we could meet up for a beer.
TT
Tinytim
My days of buying and selling shares were in the last century!
Jimbo
Dick Byrne
Great to see a post from you on the blog. Of course, part of CQN’s problem, as you describe it, could be that people feel inclined to remark that Dick Byrne has posted …
However, as to the content, a timely reminder once again of how hard things must be for you and your family every time this subject comes up, and even when it doesn’t. I don’t know how you have the strength. Praise be to God.
Lord have mercy on us and receive CJ safely into your care.
In my opinion,there is only one logical reason we did not go for Russell,and that is that NL was attempting to exert pressure on PL to give Hooper his wage demand.
The arrival of Russell would have weakened NL’s hand.
It now appears that this has failed as PL has refused to exceed to the demands of a player who performed when the mood took him,and by implication has caused the Manager to be distracted in his preparations plus appears now to be at odds with PL.
His quotes posted on E Tims stating “he has not spoken to Hooper” nor does he know ” where his heads at” is a bit disturbing,unless its some elaborate bluff.
If you then add to this, the suggested intent of NL to sell Tony Watt,over ruled by PL,then you have one hell of a mess.
Make no mistake I think Hooper on form is good,but we cannot have the Manager and Club structure being de-stabilised by one ( any ) player.
The coming Season should have seen Watt,Russell,Stokes with Hooper if he stayed as our strikers.
There will only be one winner in this and he aint got red hair.
It is of real concern when a manager of Celtic voices what appears to be serious concerns over facing our first Champions League qualifier against lesser opponents. Seems to me the excuses are being put in early. Where’s the post Wanyama and Hooper strategy plan ? We all knew they would go so where are the replacements? I find the situation surreal. A few days before starting our campaign for the Champions League we get this negativity !
Back from Berlin and had a great weekend with the Frau despite the result. Today we drove back to the area where the game was played, a place called Köpenick, very picturesque. We went for some coffee and cake (Kaffee und Kuchen) and I had some Paradise torte – very nice. We drove past the Union Berlin ground and they still seemed to be celebrating, big party going on.
Had a surreal experience at mass this morning, we went to an English speaking mass in an area of Berlin called Dahlem. Outside the church were several high security vehicles, black limos with blue lights. When the mass ended there was a “CIA” agent complete with earpiece standing inside the church entrance to escort his American VIP into his black 4×4. It was like something out of the pictures. It’s a bad day when you can’t go to church without being surrounded by armed guards.
Ps the trip had two downers one was obviously the result the other was going to see Sandra Bullock’s new film last night “The Heat”, I was ready to walk out after 5 minutes! Please take my advice do not go to see this utter mince. The only thing that got me through it was the knowledge that I was going to have a pork knuckle and a litre of Weißbier after the film :-))
TinyTim
Computershare Investor Services is perhaps what your mate is looking for.
TT
Not sure my mate booked it. Can you get my number from BT and we’ll get something sorted?
A pork kncukle think i had one of them in Amsterdam :o)
Houl yer wheest
17:53 on
14 July, 2013
“And if you know your history”
I have to afford myself a wry smile when I read on CQN about the similarities of Cliftonville and Celtic. Their histories could not be more different!
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very interesting, ta much
Zimmerman meets Dexter
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/zimmerman_meet_dexter
HT glad you got sorted hope you have a good time, great city but stay safe.
Not happy with preparation before our game on Wednesday.This is no walkover,also not happy with the gossip going on about internal problems,no smoke without fire.
Pogmathonyahun
I’m glad you and your good lady enjoyed the visit to Berlin despite the result. Maybe the heavies were guarding entry to Mass because they knew you were in town. After all, these guys are supposed to know everything about us now.
EDB
Thanks.
HT
Will do.
TT
ASonOfDan
19:51 on
14 July, 2013
Serious question, anyone think Sinn Fein would start fielding a number of candidates in elections in an independent Scotland?
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anytime i got in a serious political debate with the old loyal union types i used to say that very thing.
who you voting fur then ?
em, republican sinn fein
hows that work up the port ?
em, a shoe in for ward 6.
Paolosboots
Cheers mate really looking forward to it if everything comes together.
Dick Byrne
Always a pleasure to see you post it’s only a pity of the subject matter. I’ll keep you posted regarding BMCUW’s meet in September.
Pogmathonyahun aka Laird of the Smiles
21:04 on
14 July, 2013
who goes to berlin, then goes to the pictures ?
whit you all aboot ?
however, pointed noted about the film,
Saint stivs
Sinn Fein in Scotland.
Bring it on.
ASonofDan
You posed the question re Sinn Fein standing in an independent Scotland. My answer may have seemed flip – and I stick with my ‘no’ but I’m curious to know what you think
Jimbo
ASonOfDan
20:07
I do hope your info is correct because the evidence on the park was of a completely disorganised collection of individuals combining to produce a discordant shambles.
There were some brief cameos to offer some hope but for me I can do without any machiavellian overtures to what was intended to be a gelling exercise.
I look forward ( I think ) to the real business ahead.
saint stivs
21:23 on 14 July, 2013
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It gets worse, we were over at the Sony Centre earlier in the day and she made me pre-book the tickets for the film. Having been in the Sony Centre several times before I knew there was brewery restaurant called the Lindenbräu next to the flix and this was my reason for going back at night. Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
http://www.linden-hopfinger-braeu.de/
I have to agree with dick byrne and his comments about moderators. I haven’t been blogging for many years but was regularly on before oldco denied they were about to collapse and then collapsed. It was fabulous to see the proper journalism which paul67 did at that time but I feel it changed the blog away from being a primarily celtic footballing and celtic family site to one with more of a political bent, although this was unintentional as events overtook everybody. Odd posts, at best, like those earlier don’t seem to be surrounded by the same core footballing threads of old. This is where cqners shine and why I’d go online – to check if what I felt about the squad was right or if maybe I was being nervous or naive about a player. The amount of knowledge, data and nous on the site is fantastic. Maybe a set of moderators could refocus or even better reinvent cqn – like it or lump we are in a brave new world at the moment.
Dick B…,
KDS are a bunch of pussys, I get a harder time on here, if you followed that thread, the moderators had to come to the rescue of the clowns that tried to have a go at me, only because of the seriousness of the issue did I tone it down, they needed their moderators to protect them, hardly rough and tumble, a load of cardboard gangsters that went running to their mammy when it go a bit colourful and mammy wispy much better trying to get all indignant when her brood couldn’t deal with it.
Wanyama on SSN. Thanking the Celtic fans then saying “hopefully one day ill be back”
Hmmmm.
ASonOfDan
19:57 on
14 July, 2013
Ireland needs genuine republican politics –
Adams
News
July 14, 2013
pretty powerful statements.
i like listening to Adams speak, i might be in a minority on that one, but he is a clever clever orator.
Pogmathonyahun aka Laird of the Smiles
21:36 on
14 July, 2013
saint stivs
21:23 on 14 July, 2013
lol
i had a weekend there a few years ago. mrs h hated every minute of it.
bazzabhoy (21:37): Wanyama on SSN. Thanking the Celtic fans then saying “hopefully one day ill be back”
Translation: Hopefully one day Southampton will qualify for the Champions League (as I have been assured they will)…
Me I don’t think moderators would help, the blog is and alway should be evolving, when the season starts we’ll get back to business, there is plenty of good still going on, the odd fascist poster simply reminds us they are thankfully a tiny minority.
One of the best thing about this blog is the diversity of topics under discuss, so obviously there’s got to be shit among the gold.
che
17:38 on 14 July, 2013BmcuwThink STD must have other Klan members searching for that evidence.If its not posted by 6 o clock tonight you may have to wait, Sunday is cross burning, nothing apart from a good ole lynching gets in the way of cross burning.
VG
bigchipsuk
Aye more than likely. Just thought it on odd thing to say.
I also clocked this outside a house when I was up at the Union Berlin ground. I’m fairly thick skinned but I think my neighbours might get a bit miffed with me if I parked this outside my house:
The Company car