AFP/London
Dubai-based GFH Capital has signed a deal to buy former English soccer champions Leeds United, the latest foreign group to invest in one of the clubs with hopes of promotion to the lucrative Premier League.
Leeds were one of the top names in English soccer in the 1970s and won the Premier League in 1992 but are now struggling in the second-tier Championship.
“The signing of this deal marks the start of a one-month transitional period in terms of full change in ownership and control of the club,” the Yorkshire club said in a statement on its website (www.leedsunited.com).
“Following Football League approval, GFH Capital Limited will be 100 percent shareholders,” it added.
Leeds majority shareholder Ken Bates, the former Chelsea owner, will remain as chairman until the end of the season and will then become club president.
“Neil Warnock will continue as manager with more support than the present owners have been able to give and we look forward to a smooth transition,” said Bates.
Leeds have not won in their last seven league games, sliding down the table and putting pressure on Warnock.
GFH Capital Deputy CEO David Haigh, a Leeds fan, said the company had injected further funds into the club.
Questions have been raised about the financial firepower of GFH Capital and its Bahrain parent firm Gulf Finance House.
A group of Kuwaiti investors took over former European champions Nottingham Forest earlier this year, another club now playing in the Championship.
Bilbao match in Israel postponed over conflict
London: UEFA postponed a match between Spain’s Athletic Bilbao and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona in Israel due to deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians, European football’s governing body said yesterday.
“The match has been postponed due to the precarious security situation” in Israel, where a bombing on a bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning injured 17 people, a UEFA official told AFP.
In the conflict that broke out last week, Israel has launched airstrikes against Palestinian targets in the Gaza strip and Gaza-based militants have fired rockets at Israel.
The Bilbao players had been set to fly to Tel Aviv and travel north by coach to play the Europa League tie in the city of Haifa against Kiryat Shmona, a team from northern Israel.
“On learning of the (bus) attack we spoke to the Spanish Football Federation, UEFA and the Spanish embassy in Tel Aviv. We ended up announcing the postponement of the match,” said Athletic Bilbao’s president Josu Urrutia.
“We are ready to play there when security can be guaranteed.”
The UEFA official said a new date for the match would be set “by the end of the week”.