I’m a bit slow today. The Guardian seems to have the story. It involves Craig Murray and Schillings – the lawyers for Alisher Usmanov. Craig Murray’s site is also down. As is Boris Johnson’s. That is what they call in the business, overkill.
Copyblogger theme design by Chris Pearson | Hosted by ENTANET
17 comments ↓
[...] Heads up to Iain Dale , Tom Watson , Chicken Yoghurt , Obsolete [...]
[...] Heads up to Iain Dale , Tom Watson , Chicken Yoghurt , Obsolete [...]
[...] Interestingly, there was all kinds of stuff going on last night. Craig Murray, the former ambassador to Uzbekistan, emailed me to tell me his webhost had taken down his site after legal threats from Usmanov’s lawyers. Another very popular blog, Bloggerheads.com, was also taken down. However, what the webhost seemed to do was take down the entire server which also knocked off a lot of other sites which have nothing to do with Usmanov. One of those sites is that of MP Boris Johnson. The situation has also come to the attention of another MPs who has been blogging about it – Tom Watson MP. There has been widespread condemnation of this action across the very many blogs that have picked up the story. Basically a lot of people are upset because websites have been taken down because of Alisher Usmanov and to me this reflects badly on Arsenal. Usmanov now owns 21% of our football club. I’d like to make it very clear to those people whose websites have been affected by this that Alisher Usmanov is not representative of Arsenal FC. Not the Arsenal FC I know anyway. [...]
This Usmanov business is very much out of hand. the man and his band of lawyers are acting like some sort of Soviet-style thought police. I think he’s a terrible person and it shames me that he has a stake in my club. Arseblogger mentioned that the FA can deny a person ownership of a club if they find him/her is not a “fit and proper person”. lets just hope they grow a pair and actually do it. because this man is as unsavoury as they come… and shillings… they call themselves “lawyers”? where’s the respect for free speech and freedom of thought. this is terrible PR for them and i honestly hope other people pick up on their dispicable actions and boycott them. i’m just hoping they dont take your blog down, mr. watson. the fact that that doesnt seem like a farfetched idea is really scary.
100% with this – we don’t need this individual BUT please don’t leave this sort of thing in the hands of the FA they are not called that for nothing. In fact they own the world’s most suitable acronym. They will do FA when serious cash is involved and a few lunches and other monor odds and ends are promised.
For monor read minor – sorry.
I just saw the film “The Lives of Others” last night about blacklisting in East Berlin. And now it’s coming to the west.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/
To be fair, I’m upset in part by the Oligarch’s control over the blogosphere, but also against his allegedly tainted money ruining my beloved Arsenal FC.
Dear Mr Watson
I was referred to your website from the Arseblog website.
I am deeply worried about an operator with the extremely dubious record of Alisher Usmanov getting involved in the running of Arsenal Football Club. His association with the deeply corrupt regime of Uzbek President Karimov and his family, his involvement in running Gazprom’s slush fund, and his connection to incidents where brave dissident journalists in Russia and the former Soviet Union have been murdered in extremely suspicious circumstances surely make him an unfit person to run a football club – even in the eyes of the spineless and pusillanimous Football Association.
The overwhelming majority of Arsenal Fans do not want this person involved in our club. Please use all of your influence to expose this man for what he is.
Thank-you
Roger Figg
Having Arsenal bought through financial force would be bad enough but to have the side’s name sullied by being aquired by a person who evidently sees no issue whatsoever in using heavy-handed legal bullying to accompany overwhelming financial might is too much to ponder. It would be like the love of your life ripped out of the home that you had built together by an arrogant unwashed scion of an underworld family.
Come to think of it, that’s exactly what it would be.
I am confident that the board will handle the situation but I do appreciate Tom Watson and all other who are taking time to shine some light onto this matter.
best regards,
Clearly Usmanov is seriously rattled by Craig Murray’s comments (and the discussion of those comments by Arsenal supporters). It seems unlikely that this is simply because he wants to be thought a nice person by football fans in the UK, so I would guess that what is behind this outrageous – and futile – suppression of free speech is the fear that his criminal background could disqualify him from ownership of Arsenal. While I share arseblog’s view that the FA have the guts of a limp lettuce, this could in fact be made to work in our favour. Limp lettuces tend to cave in in the face of media pressure. We therefore need to ensure that Craig Murray’s views and Usmanov’s efforts to silence him are given maximum publicity in the press and broadcast media. Arsenal fans should make their views known on the radio football phone-ins and the BBC 606 message board. He can’t – I hope – silence the BBC with a writ.
I am also wondering whether we are really entirely dependent on the toothless FA to do the right thing. Is it legal for a person with a criminal record to own a company in the UK? Perhaps Tom could advise us on this?
Dear Mr Watson,
Whilst a lack of FA intervention in controlling Usmanov’s potential ownership of Arsenal will be assumed; surely for you, the media and information thuggery which has followed all commentary on Usmanov should be of great concern to you and all people in positions of power. Living in a society where ‘history’ is created, rewritten and adjusted when necessary is by no means one where ‘freedoms’ are valued.
The majority of Arsenal fans do not want this vile mans unsavoury money, let alone having him running the club. He would be better off getting his fascist lawyers to sue David Dein for fabricating the myth that Arsenal supporters will welcome his money with open arms [this sentence has been slightly edited]. A big freeze on his UK assets would be most welcome.
we dont need, let alone want, this man and his money at our club
I’m an Arsenal fan and concerned citizen. There is definitely something very smelly coming from the direction of Mr Usmanov. I’m always suspicious of someone who has ‘Head of State’ and ‘Billionaire’ on his CV. One may add ‘Censorship advocate’ and ‘Bully’ to it as well.
Dear Tom
Thanks for offering a channel of expression for us Gunners. Like many brethren I’m angry about the advances of the ‘ugly’ Usmanov toward our club – he has shown early on that bullying is his style. Emotion aside (it’s hard!)I ask myself what can we do, when things always get so blurred/grey – I mean the guy hasn’t even got a criminal record formally! The FA’s Fit & Proper Tests will NOT show this guy in a bad light as all his ‘paperwork & records’ are in order. It seems to a layman like me that we can only do 2 things:
1 – Cause more discussion/exposure to unite people and channel concerned voices. Your help in parliament would be a great support, as will furthering this matter’s media exposure.
2 – Begin a campaign to get the FA to improve its FPPT criteria. It’s a lost cause but we can at least set out our stall for them.
Thanks again and hope to see you on Newsnight soon (if you need company I’ll happily oblige)!
Regards, Andy Thomas
So Usmanov has admitted that he wants to buy Arsenal in the long-term. Seemingly the only reason why he’s not going for it right away is that the lock-down agreement between the existing board members means he couldn’t succeed right now.
What is most disturbing about all this is that the mainstream media (the BBC, Guardian etc) even now are not discussing the big question marks over Usmanov’s background.
They don’t even need to be intimidated by the threat of lawsuits, because Craig Murray’s allegations have been repeated in the European Parliament under parliamentary privilege and could be referenced by anyone. Yet there is still no mention.
I am willing to believe that there is a possibility that Craig Murray was wrong, and Usmanov is not the vile character he says.
But I am totally against the matter being passed over without public debate, and all discussion being stilfed by the mere threat of lawsuits. And threats not even against Murray who is more than willing to stand by his claims in court.
If Usmanov has nothing to hide, let him put his side of the case, and his evidence, not simply gag Murray and the press.
Tom, I urge you to do what you can to raise the matter, preferably in the House of Commons itself.
You will have the gratitude of a great many Arsenal fans and concerned citizens.
How do you feel about Labour List using Schillings’ services?
Leave a Comment