Cardiff Chairman meets the clown PM Boris

Cardiff City chief Mehmet Dalman reveals he discussed Bluebirds' 'financial difficulty' over a glass of whisky with Boris Johnson

The Bluebirds chairman has hit out over governing bodies for their not handing down enough cash to lower divisions


Wednesday 19th August 2020




Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has lashed out at football's governing bodies for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and even raised his concerns with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The impact of Covid-19 has shaken football to its core, with clubs up and down the country facing the very real struggle of trying to steer themselves away from financial oblivion.

Dalman himself has warned Cardiff will not have wads of cash to spend in the summer transfer window owing to the severe impact the crisis has had on the club's finances.

He believes the damage being felt below the Premier League could have been mitigated if better governance had taken place and the Bluebirds chief has launched a withering attack on football's decision-makers.

“Football’s governing bodies, whichever one you pick, have been ineffective," he told Off The Pitch. "The FA, Premier League, EFL, the PFA, have shown no ability to lead anything in this crisis, in fact they’ve done nothing.

“At the end of the day, the governing body that governs Cardiff City is the EFL, and I have seen absolutely nothing from them to give me any confidence that they will do the right thing which is to step in and help clubs.”

He goes on to describe the EFL's leadership as "weak" and called for all of its members to work towards achieving a unified view on how best to move forward.

Dalman believes that in order to ensure the game is financially sustainable moving forward it would need some participation from political leaders.

He said he raised his concerns with Mr Johnson "over a glass of whisky", but the PM was not fully engaged owing to the volume of other issues he is tackling.

But Dalman is fully aware of the challenge facing Championship clubs and reiterated that Cardiff, despite being fortunate enough to have a wealthy owner in Vincent Tan, are not immune to the concerning impact coronavirus has had on the game.

“As well as Wigan hitting a brick wall (going into administration), in the Championship there are going to be quite a few clubs in financial difficulty, including us,” he added.

Dalman is against the notion of government hand-outs, believing taxpayers' money could be better spent elsewhere.

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Instead, he thinks there should be far better distribution of funds from higher up to ensure the game below the Premier League is on a better financial footing.

“I think you need a bigger redistribution of income that comes into the game," he said.

"The Premier League is sitting on £1.5bn, if you only distributed 20 per cent of that into other leagues everybody would be alright, but they’re not prepared to give £1m away.

"Their strategy is keep your head down, let the storm blow over and we’ll get there in the end.”

The Bluebirds last week announced the signing for Kieffer Moore from Wigan for a fee believed to be around £1.5mill.

Shortly after the Wales international signed, Cardiff boss Neil Harris was quick to curb expectations about a summer spending spree, claiming City's other arrivals this summer will likely come via loans or free transfers.

City's top brass has made it clear this season, even before coronavirus hit, that the club were adopting a different financial model to what they had done in recent years.

Under Neil Warnock, the club spent over £100million in transfers in three years, thankfully they received more than that in parachute payments , albeit there was one season in the Premier League, but Cardiff are now trying to move away from that structure.

Instead, with Harris at the helm, they want to bring through young players and be shrewder when it comes to dipping their toe in the transfer market.

Players agreed to take a wage deferral at the height of the pandemic, but Dalman believed that option to be short-sighted as the club would still have to pay those salaries down the line.

Now, with players back playing but no football fans permitted inside stadia to drive income, Cardiff, along with all clubs, are being asked to front the bill for player salaries with drastically reduced revenue streams.

Dalman finds the whole predicament quite bizarre.

“We have to absorb player costs with no revenues," he added. "I think that’s quite odd.

"They talk about wage deferrals, but how is that going to help? I don’t understand that. I don’t see how this is a viable business proposition."



As football continues to get to grips with the financial impact of coronavirus, Dalman has urged the game in this country to adopt a complete restructure from top to bottom.

“Time has run out," he added. "[There is an] opportunity to restructure this business we’re in, so don’t waste this, our industry needs a big bang, it’s a great opportunity to do that, but it has to come from the top, not from the bottom.

“The minister of sport, all the chairmen and CEOs of all the organisations, from the FA to the Premier League, to the EFL, should be saying, look guys we’ve got to resolve this issue."

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This is the story I posted without all the content. I used a link which apparently is inexcusable according to Sven

Reply on fb

Andrew Taylor

Cardiff City wouldn’t have had wads of cash to spend in the transfer window even if Covid had not come!!!

This is the story I posted without all the content. I used a link which apparently is inexcusable according to Sven

I never saw sorry

Good to see that the Prime Minister has been making good use of his time, by enjoying a drink with an influential businessman.

That's not just a criticism of Boris Johnson - but politicians on all sides who still don't get that a lot of the public don't look on that favourably.

For me Dalman talking a lot of rubbish

Reply from Carl Curtis on Twitter




What a load of nonsense Dalman talks.... no income streams!!! What about tv money, sponsorship, advertising, parachute payments, season tickets sold (bought by fans who know they cannot attend) ....need I go on!!!!

What a world we live in, the mega rich at the higher echelons of the football world berate the effects of a pandemic. Go and see the real effect in a town where the financial threat is people losing jobs and homes, businesses closing but not through mismanagement of labour costs

Businesses on the high street and factories are not closing because they pay their staff £1,000’s per week, they close because people stop buying the product for a manner of reasons. If football got its act together with sensible wages to start with then maybe .... well you know!

At the end of the day, dalhmen is there with ken choo to give Tan the money he is currently losing. IF Tan is not worried about the cash then he would off gave a thumbs up on the window for Cardiff to spend in.

This is the story I posted without all the content. I used a link which apparently is inexcusable according to Sven

I never saw sorry

Annis, there was nothing to see. It was just a link with no explanation; a lazy effort and I said so!

If people want to start threads, at least have the courtesy of putting the story in the OP rather than a link

Good to see that the Prime Minister has been making good use of his time, by enjoying a drink with an influential businessman.

That's not just a criticism of Boris Johnson - but politicians on all sides who still don't get that a lot of the public don't look on that favourably.

What’s wrong with enjoying a drink? Alot of the public must be miserable bastards.

I dont agree with Dalmans childlike view. I dont believe the government should bale out football clubs or any private entity, especially those that that are run by billionaires that are not prepared to chip in themselves. Cardiff are in a very good place financially compared with most other clubs as they have parachute payments for last season and this upcoming season. The fans have done their bit by forfeiting season ticket money, I dont see the owners, directors, or playing staff making a contribution. I love my club but unfortunately it's now just a business that cares about little else but making money!

I dont agree with Dalmans childlike view. I dont believe the government should bale out football clubs or any private entity, especially those that that are run by billionaires that are not prepared to chip in themselves. Cardiff are in a very good place financially compared with most other clubs as they have parachute payments for last season and this upcoming season. The fans have done their bit by forfeiting season ticket money, I dont see the owners, directors, or playing staff making a contribution. I love my club but unfortunately it's now just a business that cares about little else but making money!

the very last line of the article...
Dalman is against the notion of government hand outs ..believing taxpayers money could be better spent elsewhere..

he was talking about football in general not just Cardiff or just championship clubs...
personally i think he has a point in what he said about the FA releasing 20% of their war chest and making sure clubs do not go to the wall..

Good to see that the Prime Minister has been making good use of his time, by enjoying a drink with an influential businessman.

That's not just a criticism of Boris Johnson - but politicians on all sides who still don't get that a lot of the public don't look on that favourably.

What’s wrong with enjoying a drink? Alot of the public must be miserable bastards.

i had no idea they had the odd drink tbh.. absolutely disgusted...how dare they.
whatever next .. eating ?