FA blamed for letting Shahid down
SHAHID KHAN ditched his £600m offer to buy Wembley because he felt let down by the FA.
And it is grassroots football which could feel the pinch after seeing a huge potential windfall disappear. American billionaire Khan, who owns Fulham and NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars, had been in talks with the FA since April.
He had even made a series of big concessions in a bid to win enough support for the deal to go through. Khan was willing to include a buy-back clause and even allow the FA to keep the lucrative Club Wembley side of the business.
The 68-year-old had also agreed never to use the venue as collateral for a loan and to give the FA veto rights on a stadium sponsor. That was enough to win over the organisations which helped fund the stadium, including Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
But in the end Khan’s decision yesterday was a face-saving exercise designed to avoid embarrassment at next week’s vote of the 127-member FA Council.
Insiders claim only around 59 per cent were likely to vote in favour, robbing him of the firm majority he needed.
Opposition mainly came from the amateur game, whose representatives make up three of the 10-man FA board.
For them, the idea of selling the national stadium, which cost £757m to build, has always been controversial.
There were also doubts about how much of the money from the sale would ever filter down to the grassroots game.
But Khan felt that internal politics at the FA should not have been allowed to derail his plans.
His statement yesterday complained of the lack of “a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved.”
It added: “It appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA chairman has required.
“The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divides them.
“Until a time when there is an unmistakable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium.”
In response, chief executive Martin Glenn said the FA would “fully respect” Khan’s decision”, adding: “It has raised awareness of the issue that community football facilities need significant investment.”
But the Football Foundation, a charity dedicated to transforming grassroots football, said that “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” had been lost.