Blowing Bubbles
Somewhere between the hyperbole and the media glare lies the truth. The question on everybody's lips seems to be 'How did this happen?' Initial chatter amongst football fora pointed the finger at the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich but these conspiracy theories seem to fall short of the truth.
Media Sports Investment, the company which own Tevez and Mascherano's registrations are headed by Iranian businessman Kia Joorabchian. Joorabchian held preliminary talks earlier in the year with West Ham chairman Terry Brown and director Paul Aldridge with a view to investing in the
MSI have been linked to Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a man who resides in London, granted political asylum by the British government, after he escaped the former Soviet state where current President Vladimir Putin attempted to indict him on fraud charges. Berezovsky has strong links to Abramovich but it's difficult to see how the deals for the Argentines can be linked to the oil baron. In fact, Joorabchian has strenuously denied Mr Berezovsky has shares in MSI. Speaking to the BBC Kia Joorabchian said "There are a lot of rumours about Abramovich and other Russian investors but I can categorically tell you that none of those people are investors in MSI."
This evening it has emerged that West Ham are currently having 'exploratory discussions' with a view to a possible takeover. The details of these discussions are not yet known but Joorabchian had stated earlier that his MSI company were not interested in investing in European football with regards to owning clubs.