Arsenal board slam door on Dein return

The Arsenal board believe they have closed the door on former vice-chairman David Dein's takeover ambitions despite the £115million his backer Alisher Usmanov has spent on acquiring a 21 per cent holding.

The Gunners' directors, buoyed by their new

status as the richest club in the country,

described Dein's chances of returning to power

at Arsenal as 'finished'.

This is based on their firm belief that the

current directors, who control 45 per cent of the

club, will not be sellers long past their lock-in

agreement next April, and that the six-per-cent

of minor shareholders known to be fiercely loyal

to the board — including chairman Peter

Hill-Wood's son — gives them an unassailable 51

per cent block.

Arsenal's view is that even if Usmanov increases

his stake to 49.99 per cent, it doesn't

automatically mean he would be given a seat on the board

and managing director Keith Edelman said he

was 'perplexed' as to why the Uzbekistan

billionaire had spent so much money acquiring

shares that might lead to nowhere.

There had been speculation that the largest

shareholder Danny Fiszman would be a seller

next year. But Arsenal say Fiszman confirmed his

long-term loyalty to Arsenal at a supporters'

meeting last Saturday and that, despite being in

tax exile in Geneva, he will work his 90-day UK

allowance around Arsenal games and board

meetings.

•
ITV Sport made numerous calls to the

International Rugby Board about the absurd

colour clash in the New Zealand v Scotland

rugby World Cup match, including a final one at

half-time after fielding complaints from

confused viewers.

The IRB's lame excuse was

that the teams had arrived at Murrayfield with

only one set of kit each — and that the colour

jarring was more obvious on screen than to the

naked eye.

At least Jim Rosenthal, the ITV

presenter, came out of the farce in credit with

his comment: 'For those who can't tell the teams

apart, the All Blacks are the ones with the ball.'

•
One of the stewards at the

England v Samoa game

excelled himself when he

stopped two match-accredited personnel from using an

entrance, which he said was

reserved for real VIPs who

were expected shortly. The

barred duo were World

Cup-winning captains Martin

Johnson and Francois Pienaar — two of

the most famous names in the history of rugby.

•
Giles Clarke is expected to narrowly

defeat Mike Soper in the second England

Cricket Board chairman's ballot, which will be

announced on Tuesday.

The first election ended in a

9-9 draw, with Northants abstaining due to a

recent change of leadership. It is understood

that Clarke has got the Northants vote this time,

which could be decisive as Soper is confident

his nine counties are still backing him. The MCC

and the 18 counties have one vote each.

Baron's blame game

Beleaguered RFU chief executive Francis

Baron is concerned enough about the reaction

at Wednesday's RFU Council meeting about the

burgeoning cost of finishing off the year-delayed

South Stand hotel at Twickenham that he has

written to councillors explaining why the bill has

escalated from £86million to £126m.

Baron blames electrical problems on the site,

high winds, the mounting price of steel and glass

as well as labour — in fact anything apart from

the RFU's own management of the project.

Baron was very happy to take the plaudits

when the stand — minus roof — was opened by

Tessa Jowell last autumn.

•
England cricket sponsors Vodafone have

scrapped their Player of the Year Award

for the second time this summer. It was due to

be held before the first Test against West Indies

in May but was then put back to Monday night's PCA

dinner.

However, Vodafone opted out of Monday

night's event causing speculation that their

appetite for cricket is waning despite their

sponsorship running until 2009.