DOHA: An investigation by the Al Jazeera broadcaster to be released Monday found that middlemen were prepared to enable a fictitious criminal investor to buy a storied English football club.
The investigation found that, with the help of a fixer, Derby County FC was prepared to go through with a 99 million pound ($137 million) sale to a fictitious Chinese buyer, despite a ban on serious criminals purchasing a club.
Under the English Football League’s owners and directors’ test, anyone with an unspent conviction that carried a custodial sentence of more than 12 months is barred from acquiring a club.
“Posing as representatives of a Chinese criminal with convictions for bribery and money…