Racing: Not quite fast enough to pay up

A story rarely told but an important one nonetheless is that of Racing Santander, the Spanish club who are being scammed by the man who was supposed to be their saviour. Gary Linton investigates just what sort of trouble the Cantabrian side are in. You can find more of Gary’s work on The Football Project, The Away End or French Football Weekly, and follow him on twitter @Linton1388.

Everyone likes to have a moan about their club when the results aren’t going so well and so we should, we love our clubs and pay good money to go see them play. Now, most clubs have problems, but none have them quite as bad as Racing Santander. No, not even your club!

A team who, just five seasons ago, finished an all time high of sixth in La Liga and made it in to the UEFA cup group stages have sunk to all time lows this season. You think your club has some problems? Well think again, Racing take the prize with just one win in eleven games, six draws and four defeats so far this season, sitting in the bottom three and some players complaining that they’ve not had their wages paid. Bad enough so far?

No, OK, try this on for size. The owner is being investigated by Interpol. Francisco Pernia and the board of directors, well they’ve just decided to quit. That’s surely enough for you to realise that your club isn’t as bad as you first thought, no?

Last year, on the face of it, Racing had a pretty good season finishing in 12th place and getting a new owner in Ahsan Ali Syed. Ali Syed came straight in and sacked coach Miguel Ángel Portugal, I guess he deserved it a little bit as they were hovering above the drop zone, but talk about a statement of intent.

Now let me back track a bit. Ahsan Ali Syed is the owner of Racing Santander and Western Gulf Advisory, a millionaire who owns loads of successful businesses, who came from a rich background and has a personal fortune of…. oh wait no, no he doesn’t. Ahsan Ali Syed is in fact a con man, a fraudster and currently being investigated by Interpol.

His business is in fact pretty simple to understand. You want a $150 million loan at 4.07 per cent interest? No problem all you have to do is pay Mr Syed an $81,000 non-refundable fee followed by a $3.8 million establishment fee, then you’ll have your loan. Or in fact no, no you won’t. Last August residential land developer Keith Johnson agreed to the above with Mr Syed and then never heard or saw from him again. Some may recognise the name, as he did try to buy Blackburn Rovers before the Venkys sealed a deal with the Lancashire club.

Now, obviously, this has all gone on for some time now. But what is new and has just happened recently, is that on the 20th of October 2011 the following statement was released by Mr Francisco Pernia and the board of directors who, quite frankly, have had enough of the whole situation:

‘We members of the Board of Directors of Real Racing Club S.A.D. (except for WGA, represented by Ahsan Ali Syed) have decided to resign. The reason for this decision is to avoid a tense situation and preserve the Racing’s unity, so the Club can face its current situation’.

A shareholders’ meeting will be immediately called, in order to elect a new Board of Directors.

Who could blame them in their recent departure? The are many serious questions now to be asked. What will the players do? Will there be a strike at some point in the season? What will happen come January in the transfer window? Will players renew their contracts? Will the club even have the money to give them new contracts? What will happen to Mr Syed in regards to Interpol? And last but not least, who will be on the new board of directors?

There are many different questions, and at the moment none of them have been answered. Who knows what the future will hold for Racing Santander and its fans. One thing you have to do is give credit to the players and to those fans who are continuing to support the club that they love. Next time you think your club has some problems, give a though to poor old Racing Santander.