Soccer: Serepisos money man shrouded in mystery

Wellington Phoenix striker Eugene Dadi (left) celebrates with teammate Diego Walsh. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The man to whom financially embattled Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos has allegedly turned for a loan is Ahsan Ali Syed - who owns Spanish football club Racing Santander and who failed in an earlier bid to buy Blackburn Rovers in England's Premiership.

The National Business Review coverage of the loan on Friday quoted an unnamed senior Auckland lawyer who reviewed confidential documents pertaining to an earlier loan - allegedly never actioned - to another company from the same source (Syed's company, Western Gulf Advisory) in 2009. The previous loan was supposed to have been paid after up-front payments of US$750,000 were allegedly made to WGA - in return for US$100 million ($131m) at an interest rate of just over four per cent, according to NBR.

That loan was never made, according to the newspaper, which also alleged that Serepisos's loan from WGA had not arrived last week and that there was "talk of a transfer taking place next Friday". The NBR also ran a statement on behalf of WGA that said the allegations concerning the unpaid loans from the other company were "manifestly false and defamatory".

Spanish news website Vavel.com reported that when WGA was founded in 2008, it had a capital base of US$53,000. Three years later the annual report claims a balance of more than US$1 billion, which it pointed out was probably one of the greatest increases in history. It suggested, Vavel said, a large enterprise, with thousands of employees and hundreds of companies.

Yet Vavel reported that WGA operates from a small Switzerland office, with the Daily Telegraph reporting that their Bahrain office came under question late last year, after a government investigation into their "source of funding". According to Vavel, there are fewer than 20 employees and a cadre of personal bodyguards that accompany Syed.

It is not known how much Serepisos has asked WGA for in any loan. The WGA website says it will lend funds from between US$25m to US$500m.

When contacted by the Herald on Sunday, Serepisos would not talk about his loan deals, nor the financial future of the Phoenix.

"It is not part of the football operation," he said. "We are focusing on the game against Adelaide [lost 1-0 to end the Phoenix's playoff hopes]."

Serepisos also did not want to comment on recent stories regarding his Swiss mission where he allegedly travelled to raise funds, or on what may happen if the loans fail to eventuate. English, Spanish and Indian media have all raised questions about WGA and owner and founder Syed. He was involved in a £300 million takeover bid for Blackburn Rovers in September, which did not eventuate, before successfully taking control of Spanish La Liga club Racing Santander in late January.

At the time, Syed talked of the possibility of bringing David Beckham to join Ryan Nelsen at Ewood Park, telling British media: "If my finances allow and his intentions are positive then I would love to take Beckham." He also said he was confident that Blackburn could take the Premier League title again (they won it once in 1994-1995) and predicted that regular appearances in the Champions League would also be a realistic goal.

Syed withdrew his bid at the end of October, saying he had "not received sufficient co-operation from the club's representatives".

Eventually Blackburn opted for Indian poultry giant Venkys.

In the midst of the Blackburn negotiations, an effusive Syed revealed he had never been to the city and declined to name any of his favourite players, despite saying that purchasing the club, which was then £20 million in debt, would be a dream come true and fitted his business model perfectly.

He told the Guardian he owned more than 130 companies and personally had assets of more than £8 billion. But he has never featured in any of the Forbes Rich Lists, even though with these figures he would sit well inside the top 10 of the Indian list and in the top 100 globally.

The Reuters news agency reported that Racing Santander, the favourite team of legendary golfer Seve Ballesteros, had debts of over €100 million. Syed's purchase of Santander came after he obtained a majority shareholding by agreeing to take over €15 million of debt and offering a €7 million loan to the local government, according to the NBR. Just as he did in the Blackburn saga, Syed has made headlines with claims about the potential of Santander, a club that has never won the championship in its 98-year history.

"When La Liga is watched all across the world today, the first two teams that come to mind are Real Madrid or Barcelona, Syed told the Times of India." I am sure there is a place for a third one. There exists a lot of potential for Racing to be competitive with these two lovely teams (Barca and Real) who are always playing good, entertaining football.

"I love a lot of players, possibly I cannot get all of them," he said. "But when the time comes, I will definitely disclose my love and affection for particular players. I have not earmarked (cash) as such and as I have said already I don't want to be very aggressive."

After Syed's ownership went through, he sacked the previous coach and named Spain's Marcelino Garcia Toral instead. The 45-year-old replaces Miguel Angel Portugal. Instead of Beckham this time, Syed has mentioned buying giant Serbian striker Nikola Zigic, currently with Birmingham City.

Meanwhile two of his private bodyguards were involved in clashes with local police, and local newspaper Alerta reported that one faces up to eight months in jail on charges of assault and resisting arrest in the incident that occurred at the entrance of the stadium.

New Zealand Football chairman Frank Van Hattum remains confident Serepisos can sort out personal financial matters but, either way, is comfortable about the long-term future of the club.

"Terry has had to fight all the odds," says Van Hattum. "He got through December and January when people were ready to bury him. He keeps bouncing back and we're comfortable he will find a way out of this."

Van Hattum said that NZF were closely involved with Serepisos and the Phoenix but had no say.

"We keep hoping that he keeps coming through," he said, pointing out that Serepisos's previous issues with the ACC and the granting of the league licence had been seen as possibly terminal for the club but both were overcome.

"We are comfortable with the current situation," added Van Hattum. "If it did fall over, we are also comfortable that there are enough people to get motivated to make sure that there is a professional football team in New Zealand. It would be a big ask - Terry has done an outstanding job - and someone else would have to step in to do that.

"It's a normal business; businesses change hands all the time and new organisations step in. Having said that, it is not over. We don't know Terry's private situation and it is all conjecture. He retains a passion and desire to get it done and we hope he does.

"It is not our [role] to go in there at the moment because it is Terry's football club. If that changes then that is when we would step in and ask how we can help."

Football clubs with financial problems are hardly unique to New Zealand. Several A-League clubs in Australia have less than healthy balance sheets, and it is estimated that over half the professional clubs across Europe are in debt to varying degrees.

The WGA has recently posted a fixed banner over the top of its website threatening legal action against media organisations that have continued to cast the Group's activities in a bad light.

It states that that they "strongly refute allegations about their businesses being propagated by the fraudsters".

"The source of these serious allegations is known. They are manifestly false and defamatory. Western Gulf Advisory Asset and Wealth Management, Western Gulf Advisory AG and their founder and President Mr Ahsan Ali Syed have initiated legal proceedings in this matter and threaten litigation against any media organisations that repeat their allegations."