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British government concerned over Glazer's takeover of Manchester United (go back to the homepage) LONDON (AP) - The British government believes Malcolm Glazer's controversial takeover of Manchester United could be examined for competition concerns. Junior government minister Lord Bryan Davies of Oldham said the Office of Fair Trading was the only body that could investigate if the American businessman had broken any rules in becoming the majority shareholder last month. "The government are committed to ensuring that all football clubs are run in the best possible way and that they remain a focal point of their local community, including for the clubs' supporters," Davies said in written remarks to the House of Lords on Wednesday. "However, ownership is a matter for the football authorities and clubs. In the case of Manchester United, it was for shareholders to decide on the merits of takeover proposals and independent competition authorities will look at the effects of any deal on competition. "The Office of Fair Trading will wish to consider whether the proposed takeover raises any competition concerns. Such consideration is a matter for the independent competition authorities." Davies was responding to a question by Labour peer Lord Alfred Morris of Manchester, who had asked if the government could take any action over Glazer's purchase of the club. "If football is the beautiful game, Glazer is not my nominee for role model," Morris said. "What causes me very deep concern is the extent to which the club was purchased with borrowed money. "This will place new burdens on the club. The stakeholders are asking how can it be that one day their club was in profit and the next day it was the most indebted football club in the world?" Glazer, the owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, became majority shareholder of Man United on May 16. He owns a 76.2 per cent stake in Man United as part of a 790-million-pound ($1.8 billion Cdn) takeover of the club. He is offering to buy out the remaining shareholders and hopes to take the club off the stock market by June 22. On Wednesday, he appointed his three sons to the board. The Office of Fair Trading, an independent professional organization, can examine any competition concern in companies that have an annual turnover of 70 million pounds or more. The organization must instigate an investigation within four months of Glazer taking over Manchester United. It won't publicly confirm an investigation until it formally announces an invitation for any interested parties to comment. |
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