A Suspicious Deal Shakes The English Premiership

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

LONDON — It’s business — frantic business — as usual during the first weeks of the English Premier League’s new season. The commodity on offer is soccer players, and they had to be snapped up or rejected before August 31, the date mandated by FIFA.

Incredibly, some 500 players were on the move among English clubs — but something was lacking: the blockbuster trade, meaning the arrival of a major foreign star. Chelsea, backed by the seemingly inexhaustible resources of the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, had already made its moves back in July when it bought up two of the world’s top players, Germany’s Michael Ballack and Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko.

But nothing even remotely as big as that was on the horizon as the deadline approached … until, at 5 p.m. on the 31st, West Ham United stunned English soccer with the announcement that it had signed two young players from the Argentine World Cup squad: Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Instant confusion. The market value of the two players was calculated to be around $50 million. Where would West Ham, not one of the EPL’s more affluent clubs, get that sort of money? And why would the highly rated Argentines want to join a small, unfashionable club like West Ham?

There were, and still are, many more questions than answers. The recent history of Mascherano and Tevez has been mysterious, to put it mildly. The mystery began in 2004 when Corinthians — one of Brazil’s most renowned clubs — announced a partnership with a hitherto unknown British-based financial group named Media Sports Investment (MSI). Quickly backing up its guarantee of available cash (Corinthians, like virtually all Brazilian clubs, is chronically short of money) MSI financed the purchase, from their Argentina clubs, of … Tevez and Mascherano.

Gasps of astonishment on all sides, because it is extremely rare, almost unheard of, for top Argentine players to move to a Brazilian club.

MSI immediately came under suspicion. Who was Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian-born financier who signed the documents for MSI? And where was its money coming from? Speculation focused on Chelsea’s Abramovich, or on another Russian billionaire, Boris Berezovsky. Also based in London, Berezovsky is reportedly wanted by Russian authorities looking into illegal financial transactions.

Some facts emerged, of which the most intriguing — and potentially the most sinister — was that it was MSI, not Corinthians, that owned the contracts of Tevez and Mascherano.To many, this suggested that MSI was parking the players at Corinthians, and would soon sell them — for much more money — to a rich European club.

Now, after less than two seasons with Corinthians, they have moved to a European club. But not a rich one. And MSI still holds their contracts.The initial euphoria that surrounded the deal (some headlines credited West Ham coach Alan Pardew with a coup in luring the Argentines to his club) has been replaced by widespread suspicion. It now seems that the players were offered to a number of top European clubs, but there were no takers. Manchester United state that they twice refused to sign Mascherano, saying the asking price was too high.

That would seem to open up the possibility that Tevez and Mascherano are, once again, being parked, this time with West Ham, while a more glamorous club is sought. The glowing statements by Pardew welcoming the deal, and by Tevez explaining why he finds West Ham such a wonderful club to join, begin to ring quite hollow.

Especially when they are set alongside the statement by West Ham United that it is having discussions concerning a possible $150 million take-over bid. Who is it that wants to buy West Ham? Why, Joorabchian and MSI. Or maybe it’s Joorabchian and Berezovsky. Or maybe none of the above.

According to the “London Sunday Times,” Tevez and Mascherano were, in effect, a gift to West Ham, which paid nothing at all to acquire the players. All West Ham has to do is to pay half of the players’ salaries (about $1 million for each player). An “advisor to MSI” told the “Sunday Times” that West Ham’s role was to act as a “surrogate mother” to the players, while MSI sought a bigger club for them.

Inevitably, another contradiction followed: “There is no way West Ham would act as a feeder club for others,” a club spokesman said. But West Ham’s subservient role was emphasized in the contract details, which, according to the “Sunday Times,” give MSI the rights to decide on any future trades involving the players.

In the midst of the chaos, Joorabchian spoke out. While his prediction — told to the “News of the World” — that West Ham “in the very near future can become bigger than Chelsea” was farfetched, he made a lot of sense with his comment that “there is massive potential at West Ham. Why? Because the club has such passionate supporters and a fantastic history.”

Very true, and a major part of that strength comes from the “family atmosphere” at the club, where two of the major shareholders are direct descendants of men who founded the club in 1895. While a takeover would mark the end of the family atmosphere, it would presumably erase West Ham’s $40 million debt and give the club the money it needs — and has never had — to compete with the EPL’s elite clubs.

Again the question surfaces: Where is the money coming from? UEFA, the body that controls European club soccer, has in the past expressed concern that soccer clubs might be used to recycle illicit funds. Talking of the Tevez-Mascherano trade, a UEFA spokesman said last week: “This is certainly a strange deal, and it is worrisome …” FIFA will shortly introduce a regulation stating that a company name will no longer be acceptable as a club owner. The individuals behind the company will have to identify themselves.

While the financial wheels churn, the soccer side of things looks equally chaotic. Can coach Pardew, who has built a sturdy, if unspectacular, West Ham team, welcome the sudden addition of two much-publicized youngsters, whose styles may not immediately gel with the rest of the team, and whose arrival means the bench for two former starters? That does not sound like a recipe for a happy team.


The New York Sun

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