WEMBLEY SALE CANCELLED
FA defeat as Khan scraps £600m offer
THE men who wanted to sell Wembley were red-faced last night as they were left with no buyer after Shahid Khan sensationally withdrew his £600million offer. In a major defeat for FA chief executive Martin Glenn and chairman Greg Clarke, Fulham’s American billionaire owner pulled out of the deal in anticipation of a vote against the sale by the FA Council next week.
The FA will now assess how to tackle what they consider is a crisis in grassroots football after Khan’s withdrawal. Wembley insiders insisted there was growing
support for a deal with Khan among members of the 127-strong council. But Khan appears to have got cold feet and pulled out when it seemed Clarke would not get the ‘ significant majority’ he wanted for the deal to proceed when the council were to vote next Wednesday.
Khan apparently had no desire to remain in the middle of what had become a fierce internal debate since Sportsmail revealed his blockbuster offer in April.
FA sources insist this will not lead to the resignation of Glenn or Clarke, with the FA hierarchy now focusing on how they address the issue of poor facilities in the amateur game across the country.
Indeed, last night the FA did not entirely close the door on the deal itself, and Khan concurred that he would be interested in buying Wembley in the future if there was wider support for a deal.
‘Selling Wembley would have put the situation in the FA’s control,’ said one FA source last night. ‘Now it becomes much more complicated because of the need to find a solution in tandem with the game’s major stakeholders.’
Last winter 50,000 matches were postponed because of bad pitches. According to FA research taken from the Institute Of Groundsmen, only one in three grass pitches are of adequate quality.
Sports minister Tracey Crouch MP said she was ‘ very disappointed’ by Khan’s decision because the deal represented ‘a huge opportunity to boost funding into the development of and maintenance of artificial and grassroots pitches up and down the country’.
In a statement issued yesterday, Khan said: ‘ I’ve been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximise the benefits to the FA and game of football by way of 100 per cent private ownership of Wembley.
‘At this moment, following last week’s FA Council hearing, 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 it is evident there is an unmistakable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I am respectfully withdrawing my offer.
‘I cannot rule out revisiting the opportunity at another time when perhaps the FA family is unified in its views.
‘Wembley is a national treasure, one I would care for and respect for generations. I recognise the passion many people have for Wembley and what it means to English football.’
Glenn said: ‘We fully respect his decision. Mr Khan believed that his offer to buy Wembley would release funds to help improve community football facilities and that it would be well received by all football stakeholders.
‘At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to us that, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is being seen as more divisive than it was anticipated.
‘Wembley is an iconic venue that is revered around world and it will continue to thrive under the ownership and direction of the FA.
‘There has been much deliberation on both sides and it has undoubtedly raised awareness of the issue that community football facilities in England need significant investment.
‘We will continue to work together to identify new and innovative ways of investing in community football facilities in the future.’
The statistics would suggest investment in grassroots football is significant. The Premier League, the FA and the government fund the Football Foundation, which would have distributed the money raised by the sale of Wembley to invest in artificial and grass pitches as well as other community facilities.
Over the last 18 years the Premier League have invested £302m into the Football Foundation, with the FA adding £299m and the government £273m.
But it is not enough, and it was why there was support for the sale of Wembley from England manager Gareth Southgate and former FA technical director Howard Wilkinson. Last week Wilkinson described it as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ when he urged the FA Council to vote in favour.
There was, however, concern among councillors about how the money would be distributed by the Football Foundation, and
‘I wanted to strengthen the English game, not divide it’
traditionalists such as Gary Neville opposed the sale, advising a parliamentary committee to consider other funding models.
A statement from the Football Foundation said the deal falling through ‘should come as a huge disappointment to community footballers everywhere’.
It added: ‘Football participation in this country is huge. Unfortunately, those who play the game as a sport, simply for the love of doing so and for the health benefits, are having to put up with a stock of community football facilities that is in a shameful state. This would have been a once in a lifetime opportunity to make considerable inroads into probably the most pressing issue facing football in this country.’ The opposition from the FA Council hasn’t been Khan’s only headache in the last week. Former Fulham employee Craig Kline has made a series of claims of racism, corruption and fraud at the club, all of which Khan has strenusously denied. Kline, who was assistant director of football until November last year, yesterday lodged a claim at the employment tribunal.