Football's bear market

Manchester United could find themselves in trouble with the London Stock Exchange. The speculation over the transfer of Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert to Old Trafford sent the investors into a frenzy, sending up the share price. Now that Kluivert is not coming to England, preferring to stay with AC Milan, United are being blamed for misleading investors and may be thrown out of the stock market.

Rules governing the stock market require any company to disclose immediately anything which could affect share price. United also were linked with Liverpool and Arsenal in a bid to form a breakaway European competition, which would also have been lucrative. The club stated initially "that there was no truth in the story at all" before changing their stance to "no comment". They then admitted to having been involved in discussions for the breakaway competition.

Peddling incorrect information to the media to suit their needs has been the staple diet of football clubs in the past. Now that they are not football clubs but leisure companies, they may be compelled to be more transparent about deals which could affect share price.

That means a sea change for soccer clubs. The operational untruths of football will now have to be exchanged for the operational untruths of business - and insider dealing? Soon we'll be ringing up the stock market, not Old Trafford, to get information on Manchester United.