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Fulham Aim To Get Sir Dave Richards Thrown Out As Premier League Chairman
Cottagers angry Peter Crouch transfer saga.
Jul 31, 2010 12:50:00 PM
by Gareth Lovell
Details have emerged today of Fulham's court action against Sir Dave Richards. The club have demanded he be removed as chairman of the Premier League - or at the least banned from any involvement with transfer dealings.
In an email to all member clubs sent from Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore this week, he confirmed that "Fulham are asking the court to order an injunction restraining the chairman [Richards] from taking any role in the transfer of players or, alternatively, that the court remove the chairman from the board of the Premier League."
It’s an astonishing action from a shareholder club to take recourse to the high court against the chairman, whose role it is to represent their interests as the custodian of his organization's corporate governance.
Fulham's anger is over Richards' involvement in Peter Crouch's transfer from Portsmouth to Tottenham Hotspur last summer.
Fulham state in their allegation that it was Richards' involvement that prompted Crouch to abandon his pledge to join Fulham, for £11 million, in favor of a switch to Spurs, for £2m less.
Though Richards accepts he did speak with Portsmouth's chief executive at the time, Peter Storrie – a personal friend – Richards denies he sought to assist Spurs at the expense of Fulham.
Scudamore said: "The claim is that Fulham have been unfairly prejudiced in their capacity as a member of the Premier League, as a result of alleged assistance provided by the chairman to Portsmouth in securing the transfer of Peter Crouch to Tottenham Hotspur in August 2009."
Spurs' payment to Pompey was indeed in a single lump sum of £9m but it will be for the courts to test how Fulham's offer would have been arranged.
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
In an email to all member clubs sent from Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore this week, he confirmed that "Fulham are asking the court to order an injunction restraining the chairman [Richards] from taking any role in the transfer of players or, alternatively, that the court remove the chairman from the board of the Premier League."
It’s an astonishing action from a shareholder club to take recourse to the high court against the chairman, whose role it is to represent their interests as the custodian of his organization's corporate governance.
Fulham's anger is over Richards' involvement in Peter Crouch's transfer from Portsmouth to Tottenham Hotspur last summer.
Fulham state in their allegation that it was Richards' involvement that prompted Crouch to abandon his pledge to join Fulham, for £11 million, in favor of a switch to Spurs, for £2m less.
Though Richards accepts he did speak with Portsmouth's chief executive at the time, Peter Storrie – a personal friend – Richards denies he sought to assist Spurs at the expense of Fulham.
Scudamore said: "The claim is that Fulham have been unfairly prejudiced in their capacity as a member of the Premier League, as a result of alleged assistance provided by the chairman to Portsmouth in securing the transfer of Peter Crouch to Tottenham Hotspur in August 2009."
Spurs' payment to Pompey was indeed in a single lump sum of £9m but it will be for the courts to test how Fulham's offer would have been arranged.
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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