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Today Ofcom have announced a ruling in which it has upheld complaints made by the Leeds United Supporters Trust (L.U.S.T.) against Leeds United Chairman Ken Bates and Yorkshire Radio. L.U.S.T. have released a statement which responds to the ruling and asks some serious questions about the ongoing involvement of Bates and CEO Shaun Harvey at Elland Road.

 

In February 2012, Yorkshire Radio broadcasted programmes featuring Leeds United Chairman, Ken Bates, in which Mr Bates discussed both L.U.S.T. and its chairman, Gary Cooper. As a result of the contents of these programmes, complaints were submitted to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator. Today, Ofcom announced its ruling, in which it upheld all complaints.

 

In summary, Ofcom ruled that:

 

Mr Bates’ comments about Mr Cooper were likely to have materially or adversely affected listeners’ views of Mr Cooper and L.U.S.T. in a way that was unfair to them.

It considered Mr Bates had taken advantage of his position as a company director of Yorkshire Radio and, ultimately, its owner, to use the programmes as a vehicle to air his views about Mr Cooper and L.U.S.T.

Yorkshire Radio failed to provide Mr Cooper an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond to comments made by Mr Bates in the programmes.

Mr Cooper had a legitimate expectation of privacy, which was unwarrantably infringed in connection with the obtaining of material included in the programmes.

 

The L.U.S.T statement says regarding the ruling

 

"This is a landmark ruling which clearly demonstrates to Mr Bates, and to all those who seek to influence and control through media outlets they own, that breaches of broadcast regulations and the rights of customers to privacy will render them accountable for their actions. Rules exist for all, and those who ignore or transgress them, in this case Mr Bates and Yorkshire Radio, will be made answerable to the regulatory bodies."

The 8,500-strong supporters group will also be asking the Football League and FA to investigate whether Bates is a 'fit and proper person' to remain as Chairman of the club.

 

L.U.S.T. go on to question the current owners of the club GFHC, about the continued involvement of Bates and current CEO Shaun Harvey in the running of the club, saying that their members have raised serious concerns over both:

 

Since Mr Bates sold the club to GFHC in December of 2012, leaving the new owners with financial circumstances that Salem Patel has made very clear are less than favourable, our members also remain seriously concerned about the reasoning behind keeping both Mr Bates and Shaun Harvey employed in their roles as chairman and CEO respectively.

These are the same people who took the club into administration in 2007, the same people who told us we needed to pay Premier League prices if we wanted Premier League football, who took us to the lowest league position in our history, who have consistently sold our best players across a series of transfer windows in order to keep the club profitable, who have invested future season ticket sales in corporate facilities many will never use, who have sold off future catering rights, called supporters ‘morons’ and ‘dissidents’ and claimed ‘supporters should support,’ who removed membership rights for L.U.S.T. board members for questioning these policies. These are the men who between them have dragged the club through expensive litigation which cost the club and its supporters a ‘fortune’, who have ignored and dismissed the voices of thousands of fans who could see the financial mire the club was headed towards, and who campaigned for change because of it.

These are the men who, it would seem, are today involved in the search for a new club manager; and if what our sources indicate is true these men have also ensured that the new owners cannot communicate with L.U.S.T., or other organised supporters groups, because they are contractually prevented from doing so. For the sake of transparency for all Leeds United fans, we seek public clarification on this final point."

 

You can see the full Ofcom ruling here.

 

 

http://thecitytalking.com/sport/2013/4/8/ofcom-ruling-goes-against-ken-bates-yorkshire-radio-as-lust-ask-who-is-really-in-charge

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How odd.

 

Chelsea have announced that they will face a second game in the United States against Manchester City at the end of the season, this time at Yankee Stadium in New York. City and Chelsea first meet in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and then again at Busch Stadium, home of St Louis Cardinals, on May 23, before a second Stateside friendly at the home of the New York Yankees on May 25.

 

 

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