Driving the club (and potentially the league) into the ground by buying players he had no intention of paying or paying for is commendable?Originally Posted by Raed
The whole thing is definitely odd..why invest millions only to disappear? My suspicion right now is that he used the club as a front to get involved in Marbella real estate (why you'd want to right now is another story) and doesn't care now that it no longer has a use for him. But none of it makes any financial sense.
It doesn't help that Al-Thani and the club's excuses are so weak. If this wasn't a con, I don't know what it is.
I don't know what is going on, but I'd rather wait a bit. Trust me I hate how the people from the gulf conduct business, they never pay what they owe and simply don't care. It is not a coincidence that the Indian guy from Bahrain and Al Thani behaved the same. I don't know what is wrong with Team Dubai, I don't see anything fishy there, do you? They just never did anything with it.
May permanent peace be brought to the Arab world. My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved one(s). I wish and hope those who are creating religious, racial, regional, and tribal divisions among/within the Arab nations would be defeated in their quest for the destruction of the Middle East.
Well at least Team Dubai had the decency to disappear before doing any damage. But that was another sketchy one.
I wouldn't lump all Arabs in with these clowns. Man City's owners have been amazing. Etihad Campus shows their commitment.
Well... Didn't expect any of this to happen.......
"We have to play with humility and respect to our opponents because if not we will be given a scare."
- Josep Guardiola
“The results come from humility and work..."
- Josep Guardiola
After all they went through, they just let it die like that?
Unstoppable!Lylusay Tateros Volt Sids Lucifer!
Where did they disappear? They bought the club, but didn't shake its foundation at all nor ignored it, I just think they let it run itself the way it was.
May permanent peace be brought to the Arab world. My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved one(s). I wish and hope those who are creating religious, racial, regional, and tribal divisions among/within the Arab nations would be defeated in their quest for the destruction of the Middle East.
Maybe they were hoping for a title in their 1st year?
The Team Dubai guys were just fraudsters. They never bought the club. They were just ordinary people pretending to be rich Arab sheikhs. One of them, a Brazilian, was a waiter at some restaurant in Barcelona. He's been arrested.
"The fans can accept a poor performance but they won’t take it when you choose not to put in the effort." -
God Bless The Hustle
Where did you get this information from? How is La Liga dumb enough to allow for that?
May permanent peace be brought to the Arab world. My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost loved one(s). I wish and hope those who are creating religious, racial, regional, and tribal divisions among/within the Arab nations would be defeated in their quest for the destruction of the Middle East.
That's hilarious, if it's true.
That is fantastic.
Epic LOL if true.
Catalunya no és Espanya - Catalonia is not Spain
Dubai firm threatens suit over 'fake sheikh' reports
By Shane McGinley
Wednesday, 4 July 2012 8:42 AM
Dubai-based Royal Emirates, which is chaired by a member of the ruling Al Maktoum family and last year paid around US$100m to buy Spanish football club Getafe, is considering legal action against media outlets which published stories linking it to a fraudulent scheme to swindle the club, a senior executive at the firm told Arabian Business.
Media outlets last month reported that Spanish police had unmasked a gang of alleged fraudsters posing as representatives of Arab sheikhs, who promised millions of euros of investment or loans to victims that included Spanish football club Getafe.
Six Spaniards and a man from the Dominican Republic have been taken into custody as part of 'Operation Flame' and the group are accused of crimes including fraud and embezzlement, police in the Catalan capital Barcelona said in a statement.
Dubai’s Royal Emirates agreed last year to buy the Madrid-based La Liga football club for around US$100m and some Spanish newspapers and websites accompanied the story with images of Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, chairman of Royal Emirates, at the press conference in Dubai announcing the deal.
Royal Emirates’ managing director Kaiser Rafiq last week told Arabian Business the firm had no knowledge of the alleged scam and he was now working with the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Spanish Embassy in the UAE to order media in Spain to publish retractions or face legal action.
“We are taking up this matter aggressively… Furthermore, we have all the tracking of such media and if they do not re-publish the facts, we will take legal actions against all,” Rafiq said.
In a letter to Royal Emirates, Jose Eugenio Salarich, Ambassador of Spain to the UAE, said “the Foreign Affairs Ministry has already contacted with most of the journalists responsible for the misleading articles published and are already correcting their entries.”
Rafiq also hit out at Barcelona police for their handling of the case: “Barcelona Police Officials are still not providing us their official statement because they know very well that they have mislead the media by stating that these fraudsters in the name of Arab Sheikh swindled the Getafe.”.
“They know very well that Mr Angel Torres never filed any complaint with them and they never even contacted Mr. Angel Torres before giving the statement or while conducting the investigation,” he added.
The gang arrested by Barcelona police allegedly promised Getafe president Angel Torres a cash injection of €10m as long as the La Liga club maintained their top-flight status and were debt-free.
In return, the club was required to transfer funds as a guarantee of solvency to an account controlled by the alleged fraudsters, but Torres broke off contact with the group when two cheques they had written bounced, Reuters reported.
One Spanish newspaper also claimed the gang held meetings in luxurious hotels in Barcelona which were attended by a false Arab sheikh, who it claimed was in fact a Brazilian waiter who was paid €50 to dress up as a sheikh.
Rafiq also confirmed that Royal Emirates had been given confirmation by Torres that he had not lodged any complaint with Barcelona police and the club had not suffered any financial loss as a result of the attempted swindle.
In an interview with Arabian Business last year, Rafiq said Royal Emirates planned invest up to US$130m in the team over a five-year period.
“We have a big investment we are looking to put into it [and] in the players,” he said in April 2011.
When pushed as to the size of the investment, Rafiq said he “wouldn’t hesitate” to match the purchase price, which was put at between €70m and €90m ($100-130m).
“[We tell] the players the team will get stronger with our support.”
Link to article
Last edited by Tembbi; 13th August 2012 at 07:26 AM.
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