26/09/2009
NEWS STORY
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In an interview with Sky News yesterday morning, former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson admitted that he had not yet met his new bosses at Notts County Football Club even though he has been working for them since the end of July.
"No, I haven't met the people," he said. "I've only met the representatives of the owners. But I'm sure that everything is all right.
"Money comes in and everything goes on as normal," he added, "so I'm not worried about the stories about what is behind the scenes. Everything we ask for, we get."
Asked exactly where the money comes from - the club has made a number of high profile signings including Lee Hughes, Kasper Schmeichel and Sol 'Judas' Campbell - he replied: "I don't know where the money comes from, that's the job of the chairman to find out. I'm not really interested in that. The important thing is that the money comes."
Well, the money supposedly comes from Munto Finance which is owned by Swiss-registered investment trust Qadbak Investments Limited via its British Virgin Islands registered operating company.
Following the interview with Eriksson, who is thought to be on £2m a year for a club that is three - yes three!!! - leagues beneath the Premiership, the next item on the news concerned newspaper revelations that a "key figure" at Qadbak has allegedly served time in a British jail for "insurance fraud".
The "key figure" turns out to be Russell King, who describes himself as an "adviser" to the highly mysterious Qadbak.
How mysterious is Qadbak, well a source tells the Guardian: "You always come up against a brick wall when you look to find out who owns Qadbak", adding that it represents the interests of "European and Middle Eastern families".
Before continuing with the football, Pitpass regulars may remember Russell King.
Other than his involvement with Essentially Sport, the management company he ran with John Byfield, which was at the core of 2004's 'Buttongate' - remember that - he was also linked with the 2004 buy-out of the Jordan F1 team and plans for Team Dubai to enter the sport in 2006, a project which at one stage was said to have the approval of Ron Dennis.
So now King is allegedly involved with the anonymous Qadbak, which, other than Notts County, happens to be the 'saviour' of the BMW F1 team.
While Mario Theissen is talking about a supply of Ferrari engines for a team which hasn't even got a definite entry, it should be noted that a lot of the team's employees do not share his optimism and are seriously concerned for their future.
In the last 48 hours, Pitpass has received e-mails from a number of BMW employees and the common thread is clear, they are worried.
"We have been told that there will be no job losses or redundancies as the team passes to the new owners Qadbak Investments," writes one. "This is good news, however, there is not really a good feeling. Nobody knows who these 'investors' are. The sale of a team that doesn't have a confirmed grid place next year to an almost anonymous buyer (that hasn't even confirmed that they have bought the team by way of a press release) is weird, even by F1 standards."
While another writes: "As far as we are concerned, the only pressure BMW feels is when it's public reputation is questioned. The more press heat they feel about "casting this team to the wolves" (for want of a less melodramatic phrase), the more likely they are to act properly.
"BMW doubled the population of this place in the few years they were here. Many people that arrived on the understanding that BMW are committed to F1 for a long time are ex-pats that have moved families abroad, put kids in school etc etc. And there are the Swiss that have worked here for a long time, some since Peter Sauber started the sportscar programs (25+ years). There is nothing wrong with BMW changing plan. But, the exit strategy is non-existent."
While we are sorry to have bored you with the football stuff, we feel its entirely necessary and share the fear of the BMW employees who have contacted us.
F1 has had more than enough scandals of late, it doesn't need any more.