LONDON – Shahid Khan has withdrawn his controversial offer to buy London sWembley Stadium, the American businessman announced on Wednesday.
The Football Association, Wembley s current owners, had come under firefrom many within its own ranks for a plan to sell.
English football s governing body had also investigated allegations of”systemic corruption” surrounding the proposed sale.
Khan — the owner of London-based Premier League side Fulham — offered tobuy the stadium for 600 million pound ($800 million), in a deal ultimatelyworth 900 million pound to the FA, with the money to be reinvested ingrassroots football.
And while senior FA figures were happy for the sale to go through, thatlack of support from the wider game, evident at a meeting of the FA sgoverning council last week, was a key factor in Khan s decision to pullout.
“At this moment, following last week s FA Council hearing, it appears thereis no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal,subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FACouncil, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA chairman (GregClarke) has required,” said Khan.
“The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a mannerthat strengthens the English game and brings people together, not dividesthem,” added Khan, who had also suggested his NFL franchise theJacksonville Jaguars could increase the number of games they play atWembley.
Meanwhile Khan left open the possibility he could launch another bid.
“I cannot rule out revisiting the opportunity at another time when perhapsthe Football Association family is unified in its views on theopportunity,” he explained.
Khan later issued another statement in the United States, regretting thecollapse of the deal but underlining his determination to keep the Jaguarsplaying in Jacksonville.
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“The local revenues we would have generated opening Wembley throughout theyear would have been invested in our continued efforts toward building andmaintaining a sustainable NFL franchise in Jacksonville,” he said.
“While this is a disappointing development, we will continue to emphasiseLondon and the role the UK plays in ensuring a promising long-term futurefor the Jaguars in Downtown Jacksonville.”
FA chief executive Martin Glenn, a strong supporter of the sale, said: “MrKhan believed that his offer to buy Wembley Stadium would release funds tohelp improve community football facilities in England and that it would bewell received by all football stakeholders.”
Glenn, however, added: “At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to usthat, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is beingseen as more divisive than it was anticipated to be and has decided towithdraw his proposal.”
Concerns about whether the FA were selling the stadium, which cost 757million pound to rebuild, too cheaply, its ability to invest the money inthe way it promised to and fears over losing control of a national assetto a private owner, all appear to have combined to scupper the sale.
The FA said last week that they were investigating claims by former Fulhamassistant director Craig Kline saying he and Khan s son Tony had a “papertrail” of evidence about “fraud, child endangerment and exploitation” inthe game.
Shahid Khan refuted the allegations made by Kline, who was sacked by theclub last year after his relationships with other senior figures broke down.
“This is nothing more than the same ongoing nonsense and bogus claims madeby a former employee who left the club in 2017,” said his spokesperson. -APP/AFP
