Finance guru: Aston Villa ‘under pressure’ after update on ‘shady’ behind-the-scenes deal
Aston Villa are embarking on sponsorship deals with “shady” gambling firms because of financial pressures induced by the pandemic.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Villa’s partnership with OB Sports.
Villa, whose shirt features OB Sports branding on its sleeve, signed up with the Chinese bookmaker in June 2021.
A statement released at the time included comments from Kai Webb, who was referred to as “President for the International Business of OB Sports.”
But an investigation from The Athletic‘s Joey D’Urso last Tuesday (28 December) found no trace of Webb anywhere online.
D’Urso revealed that supposedly high-ranking execs from sponsors of other top-flight clubs had fabricated Linkedin profiles and fake display pictures.
Several East Asian betting firms have been accused of using the Premier League to facilitate illegal gambling in China.
Plumley explained that the pandemic has put the squeeze on the likes of Villa and led them to get into bed with nefarious companies.
“No club has been immune to the Covid situation,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Even well-established Premier League clubs’ finances aren’t great and they are trying to manage that.
“It puts the pressure on because they have got to compete on the pitch as well.
“We know how big the gap in terms of commercial income between the big clubs and the rest is. The others are playing catch-up.
“So you have got short-term pressures on both areas and the Covid situation has hit other opportunities to make revenue.
“Commercial partners are wary of signing long-term agreements because of Covid.
“We can look at this retrospectively and see how shady they are. But we need to know who they are and what they are, which we don’t at the moment.
“But there is real acute cash pressure that is driving it. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but that’s the reason.”
Villa raked in £24million commercial income in their last set of accounts.
Their next annual report is due out some time in early 2022.
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