Perth Glory owner Tony Sage has decided against selling the A-League club to controversial bitcoin company London Football Exchange.
Sage had planned to sell 80 per cent of the club to LFE but he advised Football Federation Australia on Monday night that the deal would not proceed.
The news will come as a huge relief to Glory fans who had expressed fears about LFE and the group’s business model.
LFE is reportedly being sued in London and New York over various business matters.
The company has big dreams to buy eight or nine soccer clubs all around the world so they can create an “ecosystem” of assets that fans can access with bitcoins.
LFE’s founder Jim Aylward conducted one disastrous interview after another in his attempts to promote the group’s first club acquisition.
On each occasion he refused to detail what means LFE would use to buy the Glory – or any other club for that matter.
But he promised big things, including a deal with an English Premier League club.
Perth released a statement earlier this month confirming they had entered into an “asset sale and purchase agreement” with LFE.
The only obstacle at that point seemed to be Football Federation Australia, which needed to approve the deal.
But as questions began to swell over LFE and its dubious past, Sage seemingly backtracked and insisted that no deal had been agreed upon.
Instead, he flew to London to meet with Ayles to conduct his “due diligence”.
Confusing matters further was the fact that Sage had been appointed chairman of LFE in January.
Sage’s term as chairman was expected to start in March – about the time when the sale of Perth would go through.
It now seems unlikely that Sage will stay on as chairman of LFE given the spectacular collapse in negotiations.
FFA confirmed on Tuesday morning that the sale of the Glory to LFE would not go ahead.
“On Thursday 13 February, Tony advised FFA that he had received unsolicited interest from a potential buyer being the London Football Exchange and would be travelling to London to work with his lawyers to organise a due diligence process,” the FFA said in a statement.
“At no time did Tony Sage request FFA to review any application for sale.
“Last night, Tony officially advised the FFA head of leagues Greg O’Rourke that following a due diligence process, the transaction will not be pursued.”
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Serious questions were already being asked, but he uncovered and made public some stuff that had previously not been made public. In fact, expect him to be nominated for a Walkley, it was pretty good journalism.
Samuel Jonis
Guest
James Abbass Biniaz https://www.6pr.com.au/podcast/exclusive-investigation-lfe-sued-for-us2-2m-and-who-is-jim-aylward/
ojp
Guest
More or less Micko, certainly caused a much brighter light to be shone on the situation
Nick Symonds
Guest
One thing I'd like to know is whether the exit of Lang Walker will affect their plans to upgrade the stadium. I thought he was going to put some of his own money into it along with the council, so will the upgrade still go ahead as planned? It's still perfectly usable as is, but I just wonder if he's left a funding gap. There was also some kind of dispute over the cost of the indigenous football academy that they had planned. So that's another thing to keep an eye on.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Open your eyes :laughing:
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Bit like the ownership structure around the City Football Group.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It's the pursuit of largesse in sport to distract from, or compensate for, unseemly political or social practices.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
I heard about that Macarthur FC's chairman stood down, however I'm not sure why. Hopefully this doesn't have a negative impact on the club because things are looking pretty bright for the Bulls.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Why? Was it his journalism that brought it to light?
Micko
Roar Rookie
What's "sportswashing"?
AR
Guest
What??! The overseas bitcoin investor with the fake name and multiple law suits will not be the new majority owner of Perth Glory?? I did NOT see that coming.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Very strange story all round. Sage was going to become the Chairman of the entity which was supposedly buying him out AND he was going to remain Chairman of the Glory (while pocketing a reported $30 mill....paid in crypto currency??) The bloke involved, who has already done time for fraud, gave some bizarre interviews, and at one point, appeared to suggest that the money was going to come from manipulating futures in crypto currency. Not exactly my area of expertise, so I may have misunderstood him. No wonder he was happy to make Sage Chairman of his company!
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Moral of the story, only sell to cashed up owners with plenty of oil reserves, even if their purpose is sportswashing :laughing:
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Gareth Parker may have saved Perth Glory Football Club. He deserves a life membership
Nick Symonds
Guest
OTHER BIG STORIES: - Macarthur FC chairman Rabieh Krayem has stood down, this comes after recent news that Lang Walker has sold his share of the club and after CEO Archie Fraser resigned last year. - Children have been banned from heading the ball during training in the UK - According to reports, club owners are proposing that as many as 60 foreign marquee players could be in the A-League next season, without salary cap.
Nick Symonds
Guest
If "Jim Aylward" offered to sell a bridge to him, I reckon Sage would take him up on the offer.
Gary
Roar Rookie
Yeah, it did come across as a desperate bid to share/offload the financial burden of running Perth Glory. Tony Sage will have to do some work soothing any anxiety that may have arisen in the player roster, the coaching and support staff, and other organisation members and stakeholders. It is a relief it didn't happen.
Jeansyjive
Roar Rookie
I think it was a certain Perth journalist who uncovered most of the information. That Jim Alyward is actually James Abbas Billias who has served 22 months for vat fraud. Who knows what Sage has been doing. Certainly has tarnished his reputation.
TPC
Roar Rookie
Yeah as a Glory fan it's a worry this guy (or company) seemed like the best option to invest in the club. Tony can only reach into his own pocket for so long.
sam
Guest
I can only imagine that Tony Sage is desperate to offload some of his continuous losses of PG's operations. Why else would and intelligent and successful person like him even consider talking to such an organisation dealing in Crypto?? Seems a little desperate, he's now looking a little silly and may have devalued Perth Glory's price in the future.