Wolves face probe over Mendes links
IT LOOKS as if the next big hurdle for runaway Championship leaders Wolves will be the Premier League’s owners and directors’ test.
Wolves, owned by rich Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, are under the spotlight because they are influenced to such an extent by agent Jorge Mendes.
It is understood Mendes advised Fosun to buy the club, represents compatriot Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo and played a part in the signing of a number of mainly Portuguese players he represents, including Helder Costa, Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota, Ivan Cavaleiro and Spaniard Rafa Mir.
The set-up passed EFL regulations at the time of the Chinese takeover in October 2015, plus the FA’s rules governing agents. But the question now is whether it will also pass muster for the top flight. The PL say they would only look at Wolves when they are guaranteed promotion, while the FA say they are continuing to monitor Mendes’s involvement. Wolves say they have no concerns.
ROOT (right) is making the most of his England captaincy to the extent that he is basing a new academy using his name at Desert Springs, the Almeria resort in Spain that is the ECB’s preferred winter training base. An ECB spokesman said there was no conflict over Root’s enterprise, which also involves his family. THE Government will step up their fight against the secondary online sports ticket resale market by tightening regulations and enforcement.
These include listing the row and seat number plus the name of the seller and the face value of the ticket. Plus it will soon be illegal for touts to use automated systems to buy multiple tickets. The clampdown comes into effect in April after the NatWest 6 Nations but in time to help beat off competition for RFU’s £55m in-house corporate hospitality launch for the autumn internationals.
FA communications personnel who attended the Super Bowl to look at media arrangements are hoping to bring in some of the American features that impressed them. But every England player in the squad being made available to the Press, for a decent amount of time, at some stage during international week — or being fined £15,000 if they don’t show — is not going to happen over here in a hurry, more’s the pity.