Manchester United's finances and £80m Cristiano Ronaldo proceeds at centre of TV investigation

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

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The state of Manchester United’s finances, and the club’s reluctance to spend the £80 million Cristiano Ronaldo money, are the subject of a new BBC documentary to be screened next month, Goal.com UK can reveal.

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Relations between the BBC - who have been boycotted by Sir Alex Ferguson for six years - and the club could plummet even further as the programme will investigate the £712m debts piled up by the Glazer family.

It was confirmed at a production meeting this week that the Panorama documentary has been earmarked for broadcast BBC1 on Monday, June 7, although insiders stress that all schedules for the long-running topical show can be subject to change.

The timing, just four days before the start of the 2010 World Cup, is significant as it will allow the BBC to maximise its audience with anticipation of the event and interest in football at fever pitch.

Although Panorama have not yet publicly revealed the contents of the programme, it is understood that the focus will be on how the Glazers’ debt burden has swallowed up the revenues of the world’s richest football club during their controversial ownership.

The Americans took control at Old Trafford in 2005 and have the backing of Ferguson and the club’s chief executive David Gill, but the supporters have been waging a hostile campaign against them.

Concerns have centred on suspicions that the record-breaking £80m sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid last year has already been absorbed to meet interest repayments and will not be available to replenish Ferguson’s squad.

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The Red Knights, a group of wealthy United-supporting individuals who have attempted to take control of the club, have not contributed to the documentary.

The group are still confident of tabling an offer for the club this summer but, amid speculation of internal divisions, have targeted a less high profile approach.

A Red Knights spokesman told Goal.com UK: “We are working through our proposal and don’t feel it is appropriate to speak about it.”

Panorama have spoken at length to the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, who are working tirelessly to maintain the momentum of the Green & Gold campaign and force the Glazers out of the club.

It would be a huge coup for the programme if bosses secure an interview with the notoriously secretive Glazers, who brief the British media only through their official spokesman.

The investigation will not be welcomed in the corridors of Old Trafford.

Ferguson has spoken only once – briefly about horse racing - to the BBC since 2004 when Panorama ran a documentary which portrayed his son Jason, an agent, as using his father’s status to gain influence in the transfer market.

He was never found guilty of any wrongdoing and Ferguson subsequently swore never to speak to the BBC again, describing the corporation as “arrogant beyond belief”.