Nigerian Billionaire interested in Arsenal Takeover?

[I Hate Hleb]

Er..... you wrote the word ahieed (instead of achieved) and that looks very much like an Arabian word. Put together with your previous statement about Al-Fayed possibly being a front for some Arabs, I thought it was funny.

[topgoon]

Yeah , I know my flipping C and V keys are....buggered, i think that's the technical term. Right, weather's too nice out for this kerfuffle over dodgy owners...I'm off to enjoy the last of the summer sun

[mrgnu1958]

ive already burnt a small piece of my anatomy..Stay in...its safer.

[VforVictory]

Egypt is a north African country and not part of Arabia, so Al-Fayed couldn't be an arab unless he also lied about being an Egyptian

Most Egyptians are Arabs. Arabic world stretches from Mauritania in West to Iraq in East., includes Lebanon, Libya, Algeria etc , not just people from Arabia.

[Champagne Charlie]

serious businessman...4 decades...nigeria...

definitly no history of corruption or even just a bit of blood on his hands then

There's corruption everywhere. How much he's done we don't know. You haven't even provided any evidence of such activity.
But your ignorance gets the better of you.

What we do know is that he's a serious businessman and shouldn't be laughed out of town.

Ironic considering your avatar...

How so?

Because you have been very quick to dismiss a proven businessman based on the rumours from a discredited embassy employee thats why Has nigeria, as a business community, got a record that is any cleaner than russia ? I dont think so yet you have taken a view to oppose this guy anyway which totally smacks of inconsistancy......either you are open minded about all proven business people or you are not but dont pick and choose based on morality

So because he was dismissed he must've lied... Yeah, the british govt agencies really are an honest and truthful bunch...

And my argument is why are peeps dismissing this fella based upon his nationality whilst they are willing to welcome an individual who has a very dubious past?

Have I at any point said all Russian/Uzbeks are criminals? If anyone can identify where i've made such comments I'll readily admit it.

[VforVictory]

There's corruption everywhere. How much he's done we don't know. You haven't even provided any evidence of such activity.
But your ignorance gets the better of you.

What we do know is that he's a serious businessman and shouldn't be laughed out of town.

Ironic considering your avatar...

How so?

Because you have been very quick to dismiss a proven businessman based on the rumours from a discredited embassy employee thats why Has nigeria, as a business community, got a record that is any cleaner than russia ? I dont think so yet you have taken a view to oppose this guy anyway which totally smacks of inconsistancy......either you are open minded about all proven business people or you are not but dont pick and choose based on morality

So because he was dismissed he must've lied... Yeah, the british govt agencies really are an honest and truthful bunch...

And my argument is why are peeps dismissing this fella based upon his nationality whilst they are willing to welcome an individual who has a very dubious past?

Have I at any point said all Russian/Uzbeks are criminals? If anyone can identify where i've made such comments I'll readily admit it.

There is nothing conclusively criminal on Usmanov.

He went to prison, but in the Soviet Union, that in itself could have been political rather than criminal, and his sentence was pardoned.

Fact is he has been operating as a legitimate businessman in the UK, and is allowed entry to the country.

Again, not in itself a sign of anything, but it means that there has been plenty of time to investigate him.

[xDAVEYx]

anyone who deals in desirable quantities is bound to evoke all sorts of disquiet, oil, diamonds, gold and gas are all nasty businesses relying on questionable ethics in production and extraction. in that respect, no one is whiter than white. the oil issue in nigeria is better documented than most mainly because it is seen as an all-encompassing representation of continued exploitation of the african people and their well-being, as is the blood diamond issue that i'm sure individuals such as mr fizman have been careful to dodge. it is no different to the acceptance of saudi arabia as an ally to the west because of their extensive reserves alongside 'questionable' issues of human rights...

oil is a dirty business, whether or not an individual should be able to accumulate a fortune into the billions on the back of it is an ethical issue which i have little desire to argue, i'd rather we just all continued to concern ourselves with being a football club first and foremost.

[Eboue-Why?]

But seriously, this club is becoming such a circus.

Just give me your bonk account details......

[Mr FINSBURY PARK GOONER]

There is no way this is ever gonna happen...

what is going on there are more hope and wishfull stories on the gooner more then ever.

[Mr FINSBURY PARK GOONER]

There is no way this is ever gonna happen...

what is going on there are more hope and wishfull stories on the gooner more then ever.

[USMartin]

anyone who deals in desirable quantities is bound to evoke all sorts of disquiet, oil, diamonds, gold and gas are all nasty businesses relying on questionable ethics in production and extraction. in that respect, no one is whiter than white.

Then entire post is excellent and correct but I want to focus on the mentioning of the diamond industry - after all do we not have a Director already on our Board whose money and repautation were made in the diamond industry?

And does that not confirm excatly what Davey is sayiong beyond any argument - that if you look hard enough and long enough you'll find plenty to question about ANY of these people?

And again the irony that Dan Fiszman is the first Board member to actually sell shares to any outside entity since 2005, and started this selling off of the club when he sold his .9% to Stan Kroenke allegedly to smoke him out. Guess they're still hard at work on that since Mr. Fiszman sold him another 5,000 at a profit of about 30 million pounds.

I've always wondered - if David Dein were all about stabbing the Board in the back or making big money - why didn't he sell to Stan Kroenke when he had the chance, and if Stan Kroenke were actually incahoots with David Dein why Mr. Dein persona non grata at Arsenal while Stan Kroenke warms hid Boardroom seat when he deems it b=necessary to actually be here to help run the club?

[VforVictory]

anyone who deals in desirable quantities is bound to evoke all sorts of disquiet, oil, diamonds, gold and gas are all nasty businesses relying on questionable ethics in production and extraction. in that respect, no one is whiter than white.

Then entire post is excellent and correct but I want to focus on the mentioning of the diamond industry - after all do we not have a Director already on our Board whose money and repautation were made in the diamond industry?

And does that not confirm excatly what Davey is sayiong beyond any argument - that if you look hard enough and long enough you'll find plenty to question about ANY of these people?

And again the irony that Dan Fiszman is the first Board member to actually sell shares to any outside entity since 2005, and started this selling off of the club when he sold his .9% to Stan Kroenke allegedly to smoke him out. Guess they're still hard at work on that since Mr. Fiszman sold him another 5,000 at a profit of about 30 million pounds.

I've always wondered - if David Dein were all about stabbing the Board in the back or making big money - why didn't he sell to Stan Kroenke when he had the chance, and if Stan Kroenke were actually incahoots with David Dein why Mr. Dein persona non grata at Arsenal while Stan Kroenke warms hid Boardroom seat when he deems it b=necessary to actually be here to help run the club?

Oh yeah. What is there to question?

The Bracewell-Smith/Carr family made their money from running hotels, hardly illegal arms smuggling!

The Hill-Woods were industrialists!

Ken Friar has worked for Arsenal since age 15!

Lord Harris of Peckham was a carpet manufacturer!

Dein's family were grocers then expanded into commodity trading!

As for Dein, his selling of shares to Usmanov showed he was happy to take on the board in as much as Usmanov was ready to take on the board. If this was such a "Board Friendly" move then why is Usmanov not a board member?

Dein might have tried to sell to Kroenke at first, but Kroenke was not going straight for the jugular (he is yet to own the club, though few doubt he is calling many of the shots), and has official links with the club through the Colorado Rapids development partnership, so kept his purchases from parties not hostile to the board.

[USMartin]

anyone who deals in desirable quantities is bound to evoke all sorts of disquiet, oil, diamonds, gold and gas are all nasty businesses relying on questionable ethics in production and extraction. in that respect, no one is whiter than white.

Then entire post is excellent and correct but I want to focus on the mentioning of the diamond industry - after all do we not have a Director already on our Board whose money and repautation were made in the diamond industry?

And does that not confirm excatly what Davey is sayiong beyond any argument - that if you look hard enough and long enough you'll find plenty to question about ANY of these people?

And again the irony that Dan Fiszman is the first Board member to actually sell shares to any outside entity since 2005, and started this selling off of the club when he sold his .9% to Stan Kroenke allegedly to smoke him out. Guess they're still hard at work on that since Mr. Fiszman sold him another 5,000 at a profit of about 30 million pounds.

I've always wondered - if David Dein were all about stabbing the Board in the back or making big money - why didn't he sell to Stan Kroenke when he had the chance, and if Stan Kroenke were actually incahoots with David Dein why Mr. Dein persona non grata at Arsenal while Stan Kroenke warms hid Boardroom seat when he deems it b=necessary to actually be here to help run the club?

Tha Bracewell-Smith/Carr family made their money from running hotels, hardly illegal arms smuggling!

The Hill-Woods were industrialists!

As for Dein, his selling of shares to Usmanov showed he was happy to take on the board in as much as Usmanov was ready to take on the board. If this was such a "Board Friendly" move then why is Usmanov not a board member?

Dein might have tried to sell to Kroenke at first, but Kroenke was not going straight for the jugular (he is yet to own the club, though few doubt he is calling many of the shots), and has official links with the club through the Colorado Rapids development partnership, so kept his purchases from parties not hostile to the board.

First off who questioned anything but the diamond industry? I think you'd agree that Dan Fiszman has by and large been calling the shots since 2005 - after it i said to be his decisons that led to David Dein and Lady Bracewell-Smith being forced out. That's precisely my point -that instead of trying to look at people and decide what kind of people they are we should just look at what thwey actually DO intheir operation of the club to make that determination. After all the men running companies like BP could be said to be industrialists too and look what they have done to the Gulf Of Mexico in the name of making a few bob extra?

Just because someone is on our Board does not merit blind acceptance of them or trust in them. I suspect that kind of thinking has helped get our club in the mess its in now. We support Arsenal Football Club after all not Arsenal Holdings PLC.

[MK Gould]

...might be a good idea to find out a bit more about him don't you think...Fear always springs from ignorance

Yes, fear always springs from ignorance.....but you'd have to be very ignorant not to be just a tad fearful of a "business from Nigeria". The Nigerian Student Fraud was renamed plain Student Fraud to avoid sounding racist. But the fact is that it did start in Nigeria as did most of the scams.

Ok, so I'm not surprised that others have now adopted the same approach. But that doesn't mean we should be that much more believing....

I think its quite right to be highly suspicious of a Nigerian Businessman trying to buy the club.... It's his job then to prove that he should be trusted!!!

[VforVictory]

And does that not confirm excatly what Davey is sayiong beyond any argument - that if you look hard enough and long enough you'll find plenty to question about ANY of these people?


First off who questioned anything but the diamond industry?

You did, above.

Unless you mean you were questioning ALL diamond industry workers, but it certainly did not read as such.

Not all diamonds are blood diamonds, so flinging muck at Fiszman is pointless unless you have evidence.

Fiszman was believed to be the main player on the board from late 90's when move to the new stadium was planned, and Dein was not in favour of building new one until later in the 21st century. Fiszman got involved early 90's but upped his stake to be majority shareholder in late 90's.