Chairman Has Swipe At Foxes

Last updated : 23 September 2003 By Mark Heys
Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside has slammed newly promoted Leicester City claiming that they gained an unfair advantage in Promotion to the Premiership by passing on their debts and going into administration.

The Wanderers chairman, speaking at the European Football Finance summit in London said that the Midlands club should have been sanctioned having cut their debts and gone into administration.

"I have a problem with clubs passing on their debts and then coming out again and competing at the same level," Gartside said.

"In my opinion, Leicester have had an unfair advantage while a vast percentage of other clubs are trying to do things in an honest way. There is nothing illegal about it but we're trying to run our businesses on a proper commercial basis and then someone comes along and slashes their debt in half. That's unfair competition.

"I think stringent sanctions should be applied, not just points deduction but even relegation. A club who goes into administration, re-structures and gets back into the top league on the basis of ditching their debts is unfair. We built a new ground at Bolton and we've still got debt." he added