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Racism is unacceptable at The Arsenal – and those that defend racist comments are complicit

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So yesterday was an interesting one on Arsenal Twitter.

Throughout the lock down, AFTV have been hosting a “watchalong”. It is an odd concept where people can watch them watching football. Not my cup of tea but seems to be enjoyed by some.

In the 90th minute, when Tottenham’s Son Heung-min was being substituted, Claude uttered “DVD going off”.

Now for those who are too young, or not from London, DVD is a racial slur used against those from China, Korea and the far east.

It derives North and East London where  illegal DVD sellers would be selling their stock in high streets and pubs. They always carried plastic bags of DVDs, some films that were not even out in the UK. They were predominantly Chinese.

There grasp of the English language was limited. Mainly only capable of saying “DVD, DVD”. If you asked the quality, the response would always be the same: “Good quality, good DVD”.

If you asked “what else do you have” they would bring out a second bag, filled with porn. Literally if it exists, they had porn of it.

The sellers were actually embroiled in modern slavery.

They had been trafficked here for a better life from China. Had their passports taken off them and had to “earn” them back by selling illegal goods or working in prostitution I(for the women).

The “tax” of coming across was so high that very few would ever actually earn their freedom, and most would end up as a victim of modern slavery for a long period.

These illegal DVD sellers were all over North and East London. From Tottenham to Leyton, Walthamstow to Hackney. In the 00s you could not sit in a pub without one of them coming in trying to sell you a DVD.

This lead to people of Chinese origin being labelled “DVD”. A Chinese person would walk past and someone would utter “DVD”. This then extended to other people from the far east. People that “looked Chinese” but would be from Korea or elsewhere.

During the mid-00s, Park Ji-sung was staring for Manchester United. This led to man fans labelling him “DVD”. Shouting it at him when he came to the touchline. When he was substituted. It was casual racism.

Looking back on it, it was odd. You would not shout a racial slur at a black player, on an Asian. But it was deemed OK to scream it at a Chinese person.

The fact that I have used the racial slur numerous times in this blog but not mentioned any of the black or Asian slurs (N-word, P-word) shows that, on some level, it is still not considered “as bad”.

I will be completely open and honest, I used it. When on forums, I would not write “Park” but DVD. Everyone knew what I meant. Everyone did the same. I shouted out it from the stands. Looking back on it, it was odd. It was accepted and no one would ever pull you up on it. Not like they would if you used the N-word or P-word.

When Son arrived at Spurs, like Park many labelled him “DVD”.

Last year, a West Ham United fan was been fined after pleading guilty to a racially aggravated offence at a Carabao Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium in October. He had called Son “DVD”. This was not an isolated case

This sort of racism towards those from China / Korea does not receive the kind of publicity that the racial abuse of those from a black or Asian origin gets. It is the same with people that still label those from an Irish background “pikey”. Listen to Tyson Fury on the subject.

Many call it “casual racism”. I do not actually like the term “casual racism”. It is just racism.

Many of those defending AFTV do some from a lack of knowledge. They do not realise that labelling Son “DVD” is a racial slur.

AFTV attempted to dupe everyone by saying that Claude was actually saying “Spurs will bring out a DVD after this victory”. It was clearly a lie and the fact the they have now deleted this video shows they know from the beginning it was wrong. It just took sponsors to pull their money to make them take a step back.

The attempted to defend Claude is what was most disappointing in this episode.

Claude aimed a racist slur at Son, he should have been a man and apologised. Instead they concocted an elaborate lie and came out aggressively supporting him.

Let’s remember that after Everton, Robbie went out of his way to label those who criticise AFTV as “racist thugs” and that they should “not be welcome at games”. There was zero evidence of racism.

He also sold a story to The Sun saying he was never able to take his father to Arsenal due to racism. Again, a claim which had zero evidence.

And recently he fronted a TV documentary discussing racism in football. One of the contributors was Cass Pennant.

At the time he was called out on have convicted football hooligan Pennant on the show. It was only weeks after he said “thugs had no place in the game”, yet he was happy to interview Pennant. Maybe Pennant was just his kind of thug?

AFTV have a history of brushing racism and xenophobia under the carpet.

Some of their comments include:

  • Troopz questioning Granit Xhaka’s heritage saying he could not be Albanian because he had no heart
  • Lee Gunner labelling Xhaka “Failbanian”
  • Claude nicknaming Mohamed Elneny “Tutankhamun”
  • “Yardman” abusing Stan Kroenke and Raul Sanlleh based on their nationality

And this is without taking into account the comments from “Mr DT” & “Lee Gunner”; both of whom have abused people from Turkey, India and Thailand previously.

Chuck in the homophobia and transphobia and it is clear and obvious that these people are of bad character. And Robbie turns a blind eye because they earn him a lot of money.

If AFTV really wanted to take a stand against racism, they would have acted yesterday correctly. They would have acted previously when they “stars” have racially abused players previously. They would have silenced the xenophobes that they put front and centre.

Instead they accept the racist, xenophobic, homophobic and transphobic abuse.

The fact that yesterdays “setting the record straight” video contained 14 adverts shows they have one interest and one interest only. Making money. AFTV monetise racism.

The Claude incident is the tip of an iceberg on a concept designed to spread hate to make money.

AFTV do not represent Arsenal fans.

Racism is unacceptable at The Arsenal – and those that defend racist comments are complicit

It is time to end them.

https://twitter.com/LeeGunner82/status/1178792591606845441

Keenos

Why has KSE restructured Arsenal’s debt?

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Before I start, a little disclaimer. I am not a financial expert. I studied law at university, but then now feels a life time ago. I now work in recruitment.

I enjoy the finances behind football. Reading on it, learning about it, gets the brain cogs going. I would like to think over the years I have learnt and understood a lot; and shared that knowledge through my blogs and on Twitter.

If you want to follow someone who actually knows his stuff, there is only one person on Twitter worth spending your time on. Swiss Ramble.

So it was announced on Thursday evening that Arsenal will redeem their fixed rate bonds. In layman’s term, this is basically the club paying off some of its bank loan.

Now the bonds we have redeemed is not all of the debt still owed from the building of the Emirates Stadium, but is the majority.

In the past, it has been deemed not worthwhile enough to make early repayments in debt.

Like a mortgage on your house, you have to pay Early Repayment Charges to clear the debt early. This is the creditor (ie the bank or mortgage lender) applying penalties for you clearing debt early, and therefore paying less interest over the long run.

The saving over a long period in interest would not have really justified a £200m+ pay out by the time the early repayment charge would have been applied.

So what has changed now?

The decision made by KSE to redeem the bonds seems to be driven by cash flow.

As most will know, Arsenal have to keep a certain figure in reserve within the club accounts as part of the lending agreement. This is money that can not be used to pay for new players, for wages. It just has to sit there.

That pot is around £37million, according to latest accounts.

By redeeming the bonds, Arsenal will be able to free up the majority of that debt reserve.

Taking into account what is happening in football due to Covid19, cash flow has become very important to the club.

Arsenal have missed out on the yearly windfall from season ticket holders. That money would usually now be in the clubs coffers, and be used to make payments on new transfers.

By freeing up money from the debt reserve, it should allow Arsenal to continue more “normal” operations over the summer period.

So who has paid the debt?

Arsenal have been loaned money by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE). The company owned by Stan Kroenke. In turn it seems KSE have taken out a loan enabling them to loan money to Arsenal.

Whilst Kroenke is a very rich man, that does not mean he has millions sitting in the bank ready to be spent. Much of his wealth is tied up in assets, such as Arsenal, the LA Rams, various ranches and other businesses.

KSE had to take out a loan when buying out Alisher Usmanov.

So KSE have taken out a loan, to loan Arsenal money, allowing Arsenal to pay off a loan.

What we do not know is what the terms of that loan are.

The bonds Arsenal have redeemed were at 5.14% interest. In comparison Tottenham’s are paying a little over 2.6%.

This is because since 2006 (when Arsenal were issued with the bond) money was a lot more expensive to borrow than it is now.

Since 2006, we have lived through a global recession and are now in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic.

The Bank of England rate is currently 0.10%. Back in 2006 it was 5%, with it being as high as 5.75% in 2007.

A high rate is good for savers, poor for borrows. A low rate good for borrowers, poor for savers. The current Bank of England is the lowest in history.

There has never been a better time to borrow money.

So what KSE have done is borrow money, at likely a lower rate than Arsenal’s 5.14%, loaned that money to Arsenal, likely at a slightly higher rate than what they have borrowed at, enabling Arsenal to pay off debt owed at a much higher interest rate.

It would be like you or me owing a chunk of cash to a pay day loan company at 1333% APR. Then a friend or family member  getting out a loan with Natwest at 2.9%, and loaning that cash to me or you enabling us to pay off the debt at the higher rate.

What we do not fully know is the terms of the loan agreements between KSE and Arsenal.

Chances are KSE will be loaning Arsenal the money at around 0.5% higher than what they have taken the loan out on. This is usual in business.

So lets say KSE took the loan out on similar terms as Spurs – 2.6%. KSE are then charging Arsenal 0.5% more – which equates to 3.1%. Arsenal would still make a big saving on the 5.14% they were paying on the bonds.

And what saves Arsenal money, makes KSE money as the clubs owners.

Payment terms of the deal will be interesting.

Arsenal were due to have paid off their debt by 2031. It wouldn’t be a surprise if KSE have extended this date – how long would depend on what the early repayment charge was.

The ERC would have had to have been paid by Arsenal. KSE would likely have loaned Arsenal this money, therefore increasing Arsenal’s overall debt, but reducing the total we have to pay off once interest is included.

Rather than an agreed repayment date, KSE might have decided to just leave the debt within the club, slowly accruing interest. And then if they ever sell the club, the debt would be repaid then. Chances are, however, is that we will be making yearly repayments.

The key for this deal is that is has freed up the money held for the debt service.

This money will be used in the coming months to pay the bills, pay the wages, buy new players.

So in the long term, Arsenal will not save too much; but in the short term the £37million will be very useful.

As time goes on we will probably learn more about all the loan agreements. But what it does is reiterate KSE’s commitment to Arsenal.

Keenos

The Gunners Town Podcast: KSE restructure Arsenal Debt, the Inconsistencies of VAR & North London Derby Preview

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We joined our friends at Gunners Town for a chat about the inconsistencies of VAR , a preview of the North London Derby and a discussion about how the Kroenke’s resctructing of Arsenal’s debt will affect the club.

She Wore