Kieran Maguire makes ‘stab in the back’ claim after ‘bizarre’ Arsenal boardroom news
There is “politics at play” after Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was re-appointed to the European Club Association board.
So says finance boffin Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusviely to Football Insider after the ECA’s latest hire was confirmed on 7 September.
Venkatesham has been elected to the board of the confederation of Europe’s elite clubs as a result of his involement with the Uefa Club Competitions SA.
The UCC SA advises Uefa with regards to strategic business matters.
The Arsenal powerbroker was previously on the board of the ECA for just two months before he resigned as part of the Super League breakaway plot.
Maguire claimed that Venkatesham’s re-appointment is strange but not necessarily unexpected.
“It’s a bizarre situation,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“What we are seeing is politics at play. European football politics is very much a case of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’.
“Uefa and the ECA have a common enemy, to a certain extent, in FIFA.
“Sometimes you have to share a room and get on with people who a few months ago were quite happy to stab you in the back.
“What you find in business at this level is a bit like Men in Black. You wave the magic pen at people and they forget everything that has happened.
“They have got very short memories because they focus on the next battle. That is with FIFA and not within themselves.
“That is apart from the remaining Super League clubs who still believe the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few clubs is the saviour of European football.”
In other news, Kevin Campell fumes as Arsenal set to miss out on £10million windfall after report.