Malaguena
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From The Times today ....
FA still looking at Derby allegations — three years on
The Football Association is yet to decide whether Derby County have a case to answer despite receiving evidence about potential breaches of financial rules three years ago.
Derby sued Sam Rush, their former chief executive, for £6.8 million in December 2017, a case based on payments to agents, scouting agreements and a £1 million ambassadorial contract due to be paid over ten years to a former player, Craig Bryson, when he retires.
Both parties reached a settlement agreement, which remains private, but senior figures at the club insist that a full disclosure of the claim, as well as Rush’s defence and counterclaim, was made to the FA and the EFL at the time.
The FA opened an investigation but when asked yesterday by The Times if anything in the documents demanded the attention of the FA’s compliance department, or if any potential regulation breaches had been investigated, the response suggested that the governing body has taken little, if any, action. The FA said the case was still under consideration. Derby would not comment.
This is likely to be of interest to several parties, including at least one other Sky Bet Championship club.
This week the EFL filed its case for an appeal against the decision by an independent panel to clear Derby of breaching financial regulations after a separate investigation, with sources telling The Times that additional documents have been submitted.
Derby were cleared of two charges by an independent panel in August. One concerned the valuation of their stadium in a sale to a company owned by the club’s owner and chairman, Mel Morris, and the other focused on how Derby measured the value of their players in the three years up to 2017-18.
The EFL is appealing the second charge, and its case concerns only what has already been heard by the disciplinary commission. Derby maintain that they have not broken any rules. But the appeal process continues, against a backdrop of unrest in the Championship, not least between Derby, who are the subject of a takeover by the UAE royal Sheikh Khaled, and their counterparts at Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough’s chairman, Steve Gibson, has questioned how Derby managed to avoid breaking Financial Fair Play rules that demand a club cannot incur losses of more than £39 million in a three-year period. In May 2019 Middlesbrough threatened to take legal action against the EFL should they fail to pursue sanctions against Derby, who had pipped them to a place in the Championship play-offs by a single point.
Relations between the clubs remain frosty. Last week members of the Derby hierarchy declined an invitation to be hosted by the Middlesbrough board when the sides met at The Riverside.
That the dispute between Derby and Rush is still under consideration at the FA is sure to raise eyebrows on Teesside, even if it does not appear to be of any relevance to the EFL appeal.
The court papers make for fascinating reading, with earlier reporting focused more on the breakdown in the relationship between Morris and Rush.
Only when armed with all the evidence will the FA be in a position to determine if Derby have a case to answer.
FA still looking at Derby allegations — three years on
The Football Association is yet to decide whether Derby County have a case to answer despite receiving evidence about potential breaches of financial rules three years ago.
Derby sued Sam Rush, their former chief executive, for £6.8 million in December 2017, a case based on payments to agents, scouting agreements and a £1 million ambassadorial contract due to be paid over ten years to a former player, Craig Bryson, when he retires.
Both parties reached a settlement agreement, which remains private, but senior figures at the club insist that a full disclosure of the claim, as well as Rush’s defence and counterclaim, was made to the FA and the EFL at the time.
The FA opened an investigation but when asked yesterday by The Times if anything in the documents demanded the attention of the FA’s compliance department, or if any potential regulation breaches had been investigated, the response suggested that the governing body has taken little, if any, action. The FA said the case was still under consideration. Derby would not comment.
This is likely to be of interest to several parties, including at least one other Sky Bet Championship club.
This week the EFL filed its case for an appeal against the decision by an independent panel to clear Derby of breaching financial regulations after a separate investigation, with sources telling The Times that additional documents have been submitted.
Derby were cleared of two charges by an independent panel in August. One concerned the valuation of their stadium in a sale to a company owned by the club’s owner and chairman, Mel Morris, and the other focused on how Derby measured the value of their players in the three years up to 2017-18.
The EFL is appealing the second charge, and its case concerns only what has already been heard by the disciplinary commission. Derby maintain that they have not broken any rules. But the appeal process continues, against a backdrop of unrest in the Championship, not least between Derby, who are the subject of a takeover by the UAE royal Sheikh Khaled, and their counterparts at Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough’s chairman, Steve Gibson, has questioned how Derby managed to avoid breaking Financial Fair Play rules that demand a club cannot incur losses of more than £39 million in a three-year period. In May 2019 Middlesbrough threatened to take legal action against the EFL should they fail to pursue sanctions against Derby, who had pipped them to a place in the Championship play-offs by a single point.
Relations between the clubs remain frosty. Last week members of the Derby hierarchy declined an invitation to be hosted by the Middlesbrough board when the sides met at The Riverside.
That the dispute between Derby and Rush is still under consideration at the FA is sure to raise eyebrows on Teesside, even if it does not appear to be of any relevance to the EFL appeal.
The court papers make for fascinating reading, with earlier reporting focused more on the breakdown in the relationship between Morris and Rush.
Only when armed with all the evidence will the FA be in a position to determine if Derby have a case to answer.
Essentially no news for us fans this week