Last updated at 12:16 AM on 20th January 2011
The choice of accountancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on the finances behind the rival West Ham and Tottenham bids for the Olympic Stadium will raise further conflict of interest questions.
It can be revealed that PwC are also employed as West Ham’s auditors while they are carrying out the consultancy over how the numbers stack up for the Olympic Park Legacy Company that will be crucial to their decision tomorrow week.
Grand designs: An artist’s impression of Tottenham’s plans for the Olympic Stadium
Both the OPLC and PwC say an ‘ethical wall’
ensures there is no crossover between the
different accountancy teams working on the
West Ham and Olympic Stadium contracts. But
noticeably London 2012, who have Deloitte as
one of their second-tier sponsors, have avoided
such controversy by employing Ernst Young
and KPMG to do their audits.
A PwC spokesman said: ‘In line with our usual
business practice and regulatory and professional
standards, there is an ethical wall between
the team responsible for the West Ham United
audit and the one that is advising the OPLC.
This ensures there is no conflict of interest.’
It could suit all sides for Sir Clive Woodward to take the job as RFU elite performance director while keeping close links with the British Olympic Association, where he is the director of sport through to the London 2012 Games.
Graeme Swann received a small fee from the ECB for the video diaries that attracted more than 800,000 hits during the Ashes. But Swann could cash in on the format in future as he has a number of commercial propositions to consider as a result of the exposure.
The Football League will find they have significantly less influence in the corridors of power following the departure of Gavin Megaw, their director of external affairs, who is joining business consultants Hanover. Former chairman Lord Mawhinney said: ‘He was the best appointment I made. He transformed the public perception of the League.’
A number of well-known businessmen have been listed as members of the football club-buying consortium that included convicted fraudster Paul Garland, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2006 after pleading guilty to 11 counts of obtaining money and property by deception. The group, led by hedge fund manager Sebastian Sainsbury, are said in emails to potential investors to include John King, a former Barclays director, Manchester tycoon Joe Dwek, former Charlton director Mike Norris and property consultant Lee Amiss. They have already made unsuccessful bids for Charlton and Watford. Garland goes by the name of Paul Anthony in the proposal and has also called himself Paul Wilson in past football dealings.
Fitzdares, the boutique bookmakers who specialise in high-rolling clients, will not want too many of their rich list to have bought big on their conservative spread bet market offer of £54million-£58m being spent in January by Premier League clubs. With 12 days to go, the total is already £63m.
A Short, shark shock
Craig Short, whose sacking by Notts County last October after five months in charge was described as ‘an absolute disgrace’ by Neil Warnock, is one resting manager who is not just waiting for the phone to ring.
Short (right), a keen sailor who has crossed the Atlantic, applied through the crewseekers.net website to join a yacht that sailed over 10 days through the storms that have battered Australia from Port Douglas to the Whitsundays.
He said: ‘I was out of my comfort zone. There were five sharks surrounding our boat on one occasion.’
The commercial savvy of Fulham chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, which has brought him to the attention of Liverpool owners in their search for a CEO, is demonstrated by his role while at Manchester City in extracting an astonishing £21million from Chelsea for Shaun Wright-Phillips in 2005. Mackintosh’s Fulham value SWP in transfer negotiations at a mere £4m.
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