Very rarely do you see ownership in the Premier League come out firing in the press the way Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed has after being quoted in the London Evening Standard. Frustrated over the 17% rise in expenses and the lack of the Football Association to impose a salary cap, Al Fayed’s call for his fellow chairman’s need for “big balls” is quite fascinating and definitely a first.
Via DailyMail
‘Our expenses bill rose by 17 per cent last year,’ Al Fayes wrote in the London Evening Standard. ‘How can it be right for top players to be earning £15million or £20million a year? It’s crazy. These wages need to be capped.
‘But I worry that it won’t happen, because the Premier League and the FA are run by donkeys who don’t understand business, who are dazzled by money.
‘If the world wants to keep players in pocket for tens of thousands of pounds every week, then let the Premier League and the FA negotiate with Sky and other broadcasters for a share of the billions that they make in profit from our product, from my product.
‘Because at present, they don’t. All around the world, football fans are paying to watch top matches on TV. And yet do most clubs see any of that money?
‘No – we are hopelessly dependent on our end-of-season league placing to determine our share of the cash — it makes a difference of feast or famine every season. Yet even then, except for the top four clubs, we’re only talking about a difference of a few million, which doesn’t get you far.
‘I want to help other clubs. I speak my mind, and other chairmen should, too. They need to wake up from their coma and join me in this fight with the Premier League and the FA.
‘In fact, they can come and have lunch with me at Harrods, where I can serve them stags’ testicles from my Scottish estate, Balnagown. We all need big balls in this business.’
Al Fayed has also insisted that he has no plans to sell up at Craven Cottage.
‘I own the best club in the world, with the best team and the best fans,’ he added. ‘If anyone thinks I’m not committed to the game, or to Fulham, they’re wrong.
‘Any so-called expert who wants to say differently is an ignorant idiot. I have nurtured my club lovingly for nearly 12 years, and I don’t plan to give it up. In fact, when have you ever known me to give up on anything?’Images via ABC
