FA admits it does not know who Leeds' owners are
Thu 21st Apr 2011 | Clubs Ownership
The Football Association has admitted they do not know who the owners of Leeds United are.
Clarification given to MPs of the Culture, Media and Sport committee stated they do not know the identities of the people behind the three offshore trusts which own the Championship club.
FA general secretary Alex Horne gave evidence to the MPs last month and said he was not directly involved in club ownership regulations, but believed that "two or three" people within the organisation knew who owned Leeds.
The Press Association Sport questioned exactly what details the FA knew about Leeds, the governing body has now clarified with the committee that they do not know the owners.
Under FA rules, clubs only have to confirm the identities of people with a shareholding of 10% or more. Leeds' ownership statement states no potential beneficiary of the trusts or their immediate family members have more than 10%.
FA chairman David Bernstein had told MPs: "I think supporters should know who owns any clubs, absolutely. I don't think there should be any exceptions."
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said earlier this month Leeds will be forced to reveal exactly who owns the club if they are promoted to the top flight.
Scudamore said they will apply the rules on ownership transparency more strictly than the Football League have done.
Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey told MPs last month the club's owners are a holding company called FSF based on the West Indian island of Nevis, owned by three discretionary trusts.
The owners of these trusts are unknown but have appointed two men, Patrick Murrin and Peter Boatman, to run the club, and they had asked Ken Bates to be chairman.
Harvey said neither he, nor to his knowledge Bates, know who the shareholders of the trusts are.
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