Ban on PL clubs’ trading under same ownership ‘like turkeys voting for Christmas’

Premier League clubs’ vote on a temporary ban for loan moves between clubs under the same ownership has sparked controversy. The Daily Mail’s North East football correspondent Craig Hope likened it to “turkeys voting for Christmas”.

Most of the 20 clubs voted against the ban, with only 13 in favor, falling one short of the required number. Hope, believing that many teams are part of such set-ups, thinks that they would eventually suffer from this decision.

“The expectation was there would be 14 votes [in favor],” Hope told BBC Radio 5 Live. “But in the end, it had a feel of turkeys voting for Christmas.

“There are 11 clubs in the Premier League who are part of a multi-club ownership model. They like to use those clubs as part of a network to send players on loan.

“The expectation was that, down the line, the rule changes would evolve to a block on all transfers. Some clubs didn’t want to take that risk.”

One of the contentious trading situations is Newcastle United’s ability to exchange with the Saudi Pro League, given that both are majority owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund.

Although Hope says the ruling should have been looked at a long time ago, he added that the Magpies felt they would be at a disadvantage had the ban been confirmed.

“Newcastle would have said this [ban] would have only impacted the Saudi league in practice. Why should they, as one club, be banned from trading with the league when 19 others are free to?

“We saw in the summer, the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool profited handsomely from selling players. I can see both sides of this argument; it should probably have been looked at a long time ago.”