Brighton & Hove Albion have banned the Guardian’s reporters and photographers from attending matches at the Amex Stadium after it reported on allegations relating to the English Premier League club’s owner, Tony Bloom.
The club on Sunday notified the newspaper to say it felt it “would be inappropriate for journalists and photographers from the Guardian to be accredited to matches at the Amex, starting from Sunday’s game against West Ham [United].”
The move follows reports in the the newspaper that have raised questions from British MPs about the activities of Bloom, a billionaire who has made his money from gambling.
Photo: Reuters
The Guardian revealed last week that Bloom, the majority shareholder at Brighton, is being sued in a lawsuit that alleges “frontmen” were sometimes used when his gambling syndicate placed bets on sports events. The details were set out in a public document at the high court in London, which named George Cottrell, a close associate of the Reform party leader Nigel Farage, as one person who acted as a front for the collective, known as the Starlizard Betting Syndicate. The case involves a dispute between Bloom and Ryan Dudfield, a former associate who claims he is owed a share of gambling profits.
The syndicate makes about ￡600 million (US$800 million) each year in winnings, the document alleges.
Bloom has yet to file a defense against the lawsuit.
He did not respond to questions from the newspaper about the claim.
Lawyers acting for Cottrell were approached for comment.
On Friday, the Guardian published a second story which focused on allegations Bloom could be an anonymous gambler behind US$70 million in winnings — which allegedly included bets on his soccer teams.
Bloom declined to comment about this specific claim, but through a source made clear he denied betting on his own teams or competitions that involve them, describing any such allegations as “entirely false.”
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
RSS