Three parliamentarians are calling for an investigation into the claims that a group of former Premier League players were victims of “financial abuse.”
The V11 campaign group, which includes 11 footballers who made investments with Kingsbridge Asset Management in the 1990s and 2000s, includes Danny Murphy, Brian Deane, and Rod Wallace.
Some players now owe millions in taxes, while others have lost tens of millions of pounds.
The case, according to Lord Mann, Alex Sobel, and Sarah Bool, was described as “a failure of regulation, accountability, and duty of care.”
They were responding to the BBC documentary Financial Shame: The Story of the V11, which aired on Tuesday.
Kingsbridge’s former owners David McKee and Kevin McMenamin have denied any wrongdoing.
These victims have been let down, according to the statement.
Up to 200 footballers may have been affected, with some going bankrupt and losing their homes.
The cross-party parliamentarians asserted that this wasn’t a case of greed or poor decisions.
These men followed advice that they believed to be reliable and saved for their futures, according to what we asked of them.
We think that these victims have been let down by the football industry, regulatory bodies, law enforcement, and other sectors as well as their advisers.
In 2018, the City of London Police opened an investigation.
Two years later, the force stated that there was “insufficient evidence to support a realistic chance of conviction.”
Kingsbridge employees were not the subject of any charges.
A fair and timely resolution to the decade-long tax dispute is what Lord Mann, Sobel, and Bool demand.
Bool claimed she wants to see HMRC implement a “leniency package” for the V11 group.
HMRC stated in a statement that it is “duty to collect tax when it is legally due.”
This season, the first minimum salaries for English women’s football players will be introduced. These players make up the top two professional women’s teams.
One of the requirements put forth by WSL Football, the company in charge of England’s professional leagues, is this.
WSL Football wouldn’t say what the starting pay would be, but it is described as a “full-time wage.”
When the revised WSL and WSL 2 regulations are released later this year, it is anticipated that the salary range will be made public.
Following consultation with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the salaries will be based on thresholds like the age of the players, the league they play in, and their level of experience.
That’s a really good decision, we think. According to Holly Murdoch, the chief operating officer of WSL Football, “we have so many players who have had to balance part-time roles while playing football.”
It is extremely important to be able to guarantee that all of our players can make a full-time wage in the game of football. It’s the first step, in my opinion, because it provides a foundation on which to build.
We have discussed these thresholds with the PFA in a really close partnership. That will be constantly being reviewed.
Clubs must also meet higher standards for high-performance environments in addition to minimum wage requirements.
Following the conclusion of a multi-year partnership between Nike and WSL Football, All WSL and WSL 2 players without an endorsement deal will receive football boots and goalkeeper gloves as part of the agreement.
Additionally, there is a brand-new collaboration with the outside business Kyniska Advocacy, an athlete-led organization that aims to develop new safeguarding standards.
As a separate means of raising welfare concerns, all players will have access to their private support system.
We are aware of the disparity caused by the game growing so quickly. There are elements we must mandate, Murdoch added, because part of that creates a competitive advantage.
One of the requirements will be to play a “performance wellbeing” role. By the end of the season, we will be requesting that full-time employment from all clubs.
We want to ensure that our players are getting ready for both on and off the field, both mentally and physically. That position is crucial.
Making fundamental shifts is never simple.
Due to the club’s owners’ unwillingness to comply with the league’s new requirements, Blackburn Rovers withdrew from WSL 2 in May.
The criteria include minimum standards for things like elite facilities, full-time staff, wellbeing, and contact hours with players.
At the start of the season, each club conducts a compliance and development review.
The club’s current financial framework has reached a point where the growing financial and operational constraints, including the requirement to switch to a fully professional model, cannot be continued.
Wolves pushed for promotion, but they chose to withdraw from WSL 2.
Murdoch acknowledged that the game’s rapid expansion had challenges.
“We have been looking at how to implement the necessary policies to support all of our clubs, players, and supporters,” Murdoch said.
It strikes a balance, it says. Over 40 formal meetings with league members or key stakeholders were held over the course of the past six months.
We take care to ensure that we set the bar for what professional women’s football in this country looks like and what its minimum standards look like.
ownership of multiple clubs and integrity-preserving
The range of ownership models that are currently being introduced in England is one of the most significant developments in women’s football.
London City Lionesses were promoted to the WSL in May thanks to the purchase of American businesswoman Michele Kang in December 2023.
In addition to being the owner of Washington Spirit and Lyon, Kang is eight-time champion of the American Women’s Champions League.
Alexis Ohanian, the owner of American club Angel City, who founded Reddit, also purchased a stake in WSL champion Chelsea in May.
Players switching between those clubs during the transfer window has become a contentious matter. Where does WSL Football stand on it, then?
The multi-club ownership model is undoubtedly a hot topic right now in football. I don’t believe that this is the right course of action is practiced by everyone,” Murdoch said.
“We are completely examining how multi-club ownership models can be used in women’s football without compromising the integrity of the league.
“Mann’s football adheres to strict regulations around this,” he said. We are currently looking into and reviewing this.
“We need to know how to make that investment work.” There is no definitive response because it is evolving, but we must make sure we have the appropriate guidance.
Chelsea’s women’s team was revealed in April as Chelsea sold to parent company BlueCo for £198.7 million, which helped to turn the wider company around.
Everton and Aston Villa followed suit, selling their respective women’s teams to parent companies The Friedkin Group and V Sports, respectively.
There are undoubtedly numerous advantages to having a separate board, distinct leadership teams, and independent investors, according to Murdoch.
The women’s team is a very different business with a different stage of development. You can see the significant benefits that those changes bring.
Racism-related incidents are “horrible and unacceptable.”
They hope to increase player support as part of the new WSL welfare regulations, which aim to improve online abuse and racism among players.
A man was detained last month for racist abuse Jess Carter, England’s football player, during Euro 2025.
After Antoine Semenyo, the Bournemouth player, reported being racially abused during their Premier League opener against Liverpool, a man was also detained.
WSL Football claims that it implements the same policies as the Premier League to combat racism.
We hold ourselves accountable for this. Women’s football is inclusive and has always been. That is something that we want to preserve, Murdoch asserted.
It “feels fundamental to the game’s success.” We want a game where our fans can be incredibly proud of it and our players can succeed.
“The summertime incidents were unacceptable and horrifying.”
“I was pleased to see how it was handled in the Premier League game, despite what I saw. The protocols apply exactly to us.
The BBC Radio 5 Live podcast’s Women’s Football Weekly returns with Ben Haines, Ellen White, and Jen Beattie for a second season. On the Women’s Football Weekly feed, you can find interviews and additional content from the Women’s Super League and beyond as well as new episodes that are available every Tuesday on BBC Sounds.
Red Devils of Salford, a troubled Super League team, has been given a second adjourned after a winding-up petition filed.
After the club claimed they were confident in obtaining a bridging loan to pay a tax bill to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the petition was initially adjourned in June.
A massive player exodus, late pay, and severe defeats in 2025 have caused the club to sit bottom of the Super League table, both on and off the field.
“This encouraging outcome is significant because it will allow Red Devils of Salford to play the remainder of our matches this season.” It reflects the club’s resilience and the ongoing efforts being made in the background to secure its long-term future.
We also want to express our ongoing gratitude to everyone who has helped the club. Your support is crucial to what propels Salford forward, whether it is in the stands, in the community, or elsewhere.
Salford’s fortunes contrast sharply with Paul Rowley’s successful 2024 campaign, which saw them finish in fourth place and earn a play-off spot.
A consortium led by Swiss businessman Dario Berta completed a takeover of the Red Devils on the eve of the 2025 season, prompting the club to request an advance on their 2025 distribution payments.
The Red Devils fielded young opponents and faced a record 82-0 defeat by St Helens at the start of the season because of a sustainability cap that the Rugby Football League had placed on the club.
Owners of Salford have stated that the club will continue despite its financial difficulties, and chief operating officer Claire Bradbury has stepped down as manager after she claimed that the club’s ownership suggested she “sleep with someone at the Rugby Football League” to help them.
Due to “significant” “welfare concerns,” with the club having only two senior players available, which later caused the Super League game between Salford and Wakefield to be postponed, leading to a fan protest.
The club’s owners gave Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Salford Mayor Paul Dennett assurances that they would be able to complete the season on August 25.
In Copenhagen, Danish and Nordic leaders are meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attempting to impose security guarantees on Kyiv in the event of a peace deal to put an end to Russia’s hostility there.
The Nordic-Baltic nations will talk about how to give Ukraine more support on the frontlines and in the negotiation room, according to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office’s statement on Wednesday.
The leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden, are gathered to discuss Ukraine’s future with Zelenskyy.
Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland, stated on Tuesday that Ukraine was making progress in implementing security guarantees, but he emphasized that such measures would only be implemented once a peace agreement was reached.
We need to coordinate security arrangements with the United States, which essentially will provide the backstop for this, Stubb told reporters. We’re focusing on these issues with our defense chiefs, who are creating the precise plans for how this kind of operation might look.
He continued, “We’re making progress on this, and hopefully we’ll find a solution soon,” but he expressed concern for a potential ceasefire or peace deal with Russia in the near future.
At a press conference on July 3, 2025 in Aarhus, Denmark, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mette Frederiksen (Getty Images) speak.
The “coalition of the willing”
At a summit of Ukraine’s allies on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he anticipated clarity on what security guarantees Europe can offer Kyiv once the war is over.
At a press conference with Estonian President Alar Karis in Brussels, Rutte said, “I anticipate tomorrow, or soon thereafter, to have clarity on what we can deliver collectively.” That allows us to speak with the American side about their demands for their participation in security guarantees even more intensely.
The largely virtual meeting of the leaders of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” a group of Western nations working on long-term agreements for Ukraine and NATO, will be co-hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. In Paris before the summit, Zellenskyy moves on to meet Macron tonight.
According to officials in the West, these guarantees are intended to deter Russia from starting a new war once the hostilities have ended, whether through a ceasefire or a permanent peace agreement.
They are anticipated to concentrate on an international force to reassure Ukraine as well as continuing military support for Kyiv. However, US involvement would only be possible with US support, according to European leaders.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, promised American involvement last month, but Washington has not yet specified its contribution. Rutte hoped to reassure NATO members in eastern Europe that resources for Ukraine’s security guarantees wouldn’t go to the expense of the alliance’s own defenses.
He said, “We must always consider how the impact will be on the NATO plans, and this means we must avoid spreading our resources too thinly.”
Moscow, in contrast, opposes the idea of European troops stationed in Ukraine and insists that any upcoming resolutions must take into account “new territorial realities.”
For peace to last, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in an interview with Indonesia’s Kompas newspaper that regions that Russia annexed must be “recognized and formalized in an international legal manner” including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.
Many analysts believe that one of President Vladimir Putin’s main demands will be for Ukraine to acknowledge its authority over the Donbass, which is still under Kyiv’s control, as Trump has suggested any eventual agreement would involve ceding some territory.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly refrained from making these concessions, warning that losing any territory would stifle Russia’s ability to launch fresh attacks in the future. It is also prohibited by the Ukrainian Constitution.
In Kherson, Russia occupies more land.
Russia’s assault is getting worse in eastern Ukraine as the diplomatic process gets worse. Its forces claim to have encircled and now seized “about half” of the strategic city of Kupiansk in the northeast of Kharkiv. The Donetsk settlement of Fedorivka was reportedly under the control of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
Russia launched a massive overnight airstrikes against targets in nine different regions of the sky. At least four railway workers were hurt, according to Ukrainian officials, while explosions erupted close to the country’s borders.
In an attack on the Znamianka community in the Kirovohrad region, according to Ukraine’s emergency services, five people were hurt and 28 homes were damaged. After strikes destroyed residential structures and started fires in Khmelnytskyi, transportation services were faced with “significant schedule disruptions.”
According to local authorities, two people died in the Polohivskyi district in Zaporizhia as a result of Russian shelling, and two more died in separate attacks in Kherson, Kyiv, and Donetsk. At least five civilians have been killed nationwide as a result of the most recent strikes, according to the independent news outlet Kyiv Independent.
Russia claimed that in the past 24 hours, it had shot down 158 Ukrainian drones, while claiming that nearly 100 people had been injured and killed by Ukrainian attacks across its border in the past week. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that in the Belgorod region, three people were hurt by a Proletarsky drone strike by Ukraine.
Putin is attempting to strengthen ties with North Korea and China with this diplomatic maneuver. His meeting with Kim Jong Un, who was also present at Xi Jinping’s grand military parade on Wednesday, highlighted Moscow’s growing partnership with Pyongyang.
After hosting more than 1, 000 In Our Time episodes, BBC Radio 4 host Melvyn Bragg resigned. Bragg, who has been a part of the program for 26 years, will stop working for BBC Radio 4 this week.
It’s been quite a ride for a program with a completely unoriginal title and a six-month contract, Bragg said. I’ve collaborated with a number of very gifted and helpful people at the BBC as well as with some of the world’s most renowned academics.
It’s been a great pleasure and privilege. I’m eager to keep working for the BBC on Radio 4! I appreciate you taking my time.
More than 1, 000 episodes of the television series Mirrorpix were hosted by Melvyn Bragg.
Since its launch in 1998, Bragg has hosted the program.
One of Radio 4’s most popular discussion programs, In Our Time explores a wide range of historical, scientific, and philosophical topics.
Melvyn’s passion for the arts, his intellectual curiosity, and his unwavering commitment to public service broadcasting over the past 60+ years have enriched the lives of millions, according to BBC Director General Tim Davie.
He has “introduced depth, insight, and humanity to our airwaves every week for more than a quarter of a century” through “In Our Time on Radio 4.” He leaves behind a remarkable body of work as well as a gold standard of excellence in broadcasting and interviewing.
Melvyn will work for the BBC as of 2024 (Mike Marsland / Getty Images).
“Melvyn has been a part of Radio 4’s heartbeat for over three decades,” said Mohit Bakaya, director of speech and controller.
He is considered one of the broadcasting greats because of his fierce intellect, wonderful curiosity, and extraordinary passion for knowledge.
“Despite missing him on In Our Time, he leaves behind a treasure trove of over 1, 000 archive episodes, a wealth of which is invaluable for those who love to learn. Working with him on new Radio 4 projects is a great idea.
In 1961, Bragg started working for the BBC as a general trainee before moving on to World Service. Between 1988 and 1998, he also spent ten years presenting Radio 4’s Start the Week.
Bragg received a Peerage in 1998 and a Companion of Honor in 2017, in addition to being an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society and The British Academy.
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Palestinians in Gaza are incurred with crippling financial costs as a result of complying with Israel’s displacement orders, if that weren’t bad enough. Moath Al-Kahlout from Al Jazeera distills it down.
