FOREIGN OWNERS? WE NEED GOOD OWNERS
SHAUN Harvey isn’t concerned about the increasing level of foreign ownership in the Championship.
Wolves became the latest in a long line of second tier clubs to be foreign-owned when Chinese international conglomerate Fosun International took the reins at Molineux a couple of weeks ago.
“The nationality of the owners isn’t a great concern,” said Harvey. “It’s how they run the club and support it. We’ve got good owners from overseas, we’ve got less good owners from overseas, we’ve got good UK-based owners and we’ve got one or two that are probably not-so-good UK owners.
“It’s about the quality of what they bring to the stewardship of the club that is the key rather than nationality.
“What it does do is demonstrate the global appeal of the game in this country. The EFL having the level of investment interest from many different countries speaks volumes about the product we have.”
Nottingham Forest are currently owned by Kuwaiti businessman Fawaz Al-Hasawi, but he has been in talks to sell a majority stake to Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Greek champions Olympiacos.
Marinakis is currently banned from involvement in any football administration in Greece and is also the subject of a major criminal prosecution. The 48-year-old is accused of seeking to control Greek football by criminal means, including bribery and blackmail.
Harvey added: “We’ve had dialogue from Forest and we’ll continue to have dialogue. Ultimately, we’re waiting for additional information to come our way so that we can process that.
“There are always concerns until such time as you’ve got a full set of answers to your questions. It’s when you’ve got a full set of answers that you know whether those concerns are real or whether it was purely speculation.
“We are working closely with the club to ensure we get an appropriate outcome.”