Fit and Proper Person

The most frequently asked questions at Brisbane Road over the last 2 years have been why do we always concede just after half-time, why can no-one take a decent penalty and how did Francesco Becchetti pass the Football League’s fit and proper person test? The answer is, quite easily because the test isn’t what you think it is or would like it to be.

The League’s Fit and Proper Person test was introduced in 2004 to stop unfit individuals from running football clubs. It applies to anyone who has significant control over the running of a football club, not just owners. The Test isn’t a subjective assessment of whether someone would be a successful owner. You couldn’t objectively assess that against a set of rules that are transparent, fair and consistently applied.

So what does make someone unfit to own or run a football club in the Football League’s eyes? Under its rules an unfit person is anyone:

·         Serving a ban, suspension or disqualification by either a sporting governing body or a professional body (e.g. the Institute of Chartered Accountants)

·         Anyone who has admitted to breaching or found to have breached rules on betting on football matches

·         Has unspent convictions for criminal offences involving fraud, corruption or dishonesty anywhere in the world (anything from perverting the course of justice to siphoning your neighbours Sky TV into your own house)

·         Any unspent convictions that result in imprisonment for 12 months or more, anywhere in the world

·         Subject to a banning order under the Football Spectators Act

·         A registered offender under the Sexual Offences Act

·         Anyone disqualified from being a Company Director

·         Anyone subject to insolvency matters (e.g. bankrupt, in administration or subject tto other debt recovery matters)

·         Has been involved at a club that that has gone into administration twice since 2004, or at two different clubs that have both gone into administration

The disqualification criteria are pretty black and white and there is no question that Mr Becchetti complies with the Football League rules.

One suspicion about the rules is that they can be circumnavigated by using shell companies that cloud who or what actually owns and controls a club.  But the rules apply to anyone controlling the running of a club. For instance, when Massimo Cellino ‘took over’ at Leeds United he was only minority shareholder in the holding company that actually owned Leeds. However, Cellino was still subject to the test as he was seen to be acting on behalf of other the other shareholders of the holding company. The Leeds case also disproves one of the other myths going round about the rules. It has been said that the Test is only applied when someone first takes over the club. That isn’t true and Cellino has been disqualified at different times during his Leeds tenure as details about alleged prosecutions have come to light (and subsequently been dismissed, leading to the removal of the bans).

The other instructive example as far as Orient are concerned is the first club Director disqualified under these rules, Denis Coleman at Rotherham. Coleman was a Director at Rotherham when they twice entered administration. That is the one section of the rules that covers someone’s ability to run a club competently. But Coleman was unfortunate to fall foul of the rules through no mis-management on his part. The reasons given for their struggle at the time was that Rotherham were saddled with a huge wage bill that had to be reduced. Once that was done they were no longer able to compete and they dropped down the leagues and attendances went down. Their second issue was having to continue paying rent on their Millmoor ground to their previous owner!

At this point, with Becchetti seemingly willing to sell the club and with an interested buyer in the wings (www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport/15147983.Prospective_buyer_still_interested_in_Orient__no_matter_what_league_they_are_in_/?ref=twtrec), the question over whether Becchetti would still pass the test is hopefully irrelevant.

However, scrutiny of the rules is still relevant. The League’s rules do stop unsuitable people from owning football clubs (probably a far better description than ‘fit and proper’). But it is clear that the League’s Governance rules do nothing to stop clubs being run unsustainably and saddled with huge levels of debt and then crashing and burning. Fans should demand better because short-termism is what has afflicted so many clubs over the decades, especially in the Premier League era, not clubs being de-frauded by known criminals. So long as all of the money is hoarded at the top of the game in the Bank of the Promised Land and clubs can spend freely to try to get there, clubs will keep plunging through the trap door when the money dries up.

And that is why, even if there is a relatively smooth transition to a new wealthy owner in the next six months, the Orient Regeneration Fund (www.leytonorientfanstrust.com/fund.asp) is so vital. If the fund allows Orient fans to have a real stake and a say in how the club is run it will be worth every penny.