>From Rick Duniec Chairman, Leeds United Supporters Trust ----- Original Message ----- From: "damian.walsh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To go off on a tangent before I sign off. I'd like to ask some questions > of those who impugn Bates' honesty whilst extolling the credentials of > LUST. > Do any of LUSTs officers have their own personal vested interests (over > and above their season ticket) in Leeds Utd?
Not that I am aware of but if you know better then please enlighten us. If you do not know better then please explain why you have asked the question in the first place. Please also confirm that you have taken the trouble to have a look at the Trust webpage www.leedstrust.org so that you have some knowledge of the Trust, how it is constituted, the regulations it adhers to, and its aims and objectives. Then we can have a meaningful discussion. > (And I don't include plain self-agrandissment here - we all like our names > splashed across the national press) Speaking only for myself, I have been involved behind the scenes for nearly five years in attempts to preserve this football club and serve the fans interests. Until recently I have made strenuous efforts to keep my name out of the media. Over the last few weeks, after being asked to take the role of chairman of the Trust it became no longer viable to keep my name out of subjects in which the media were interested, and in which the Trust was asked to comment. I regard this as a major downside of becoming chairman. I am far from happy that you are suggesting that I am seeking self-agrandissment. If on the other hand YOU personally would welcome having your name splashed across the National Press then please feel free to join the Trust and with your agreement I would happily allocate your name to the very many media comments which are currently non-attributable to the Trust. If what you want to see is your own name in the National Press then here is a fantastic opportunity for you. If you do not mean what you have written and wish to retract it then that is also fine with me. The TRUTH is that on the vast majority of occasions the media are asked NOT to put my name in their reports. You may have noticed a proliferation of "a spokesman for the Trust said" and other such devices. Mostly the Trust is never mentioned at all (at our request). > Was any LUST officer involved in offering Eastern European players to > Leeds Utd in the recent past? Yes. The person I think your refer to is myself. I was responsible for bringing a very promising Polish goalkeeper over to England from Poland at the request of Kevin Blackwell and this keeper took part in the pre-season last year at Thorp Arch. At the time I was not a board member of the Trust although I was a member of the Trust. Poland is, by the way, in Central Europe. > If so, did they have any material interest in the expression of such > offers, and/ or did they expect any financial gain from such transactions? No. I did not expect any financial gain. I have no idea what offers you refer to. I am not aware of anything which could properly be called a transaction. I was quite happy to finance this goalkeepers visit to Leeds United for a trial in the hope of helping the player himself (which I had been personally asked to do by people in Poland) and in the feint hope that the club might acquire a good player at low cost at a time when such considerations were vital. It was always possible that there might be some financial gain but this was unlikley and as I am not a registered agent (please check up on the FA regulations) it would not be possible to be paid by the club as an agent in this matter. > If LUST took any sort of future role in Leeds Utd, would such officers be > in a position where they could be subject to a conflict of interest > between their own financial wellbeing, and the wellbeing of Leeds Utd as > perceived by the majority of its fans? It is difficult to see how such officers could be in such a position of a conflict of interest, but if such conflict should arise then it would be reasonable to expect them to resign so that no conflict continued. It may be that this answer is not sufficient for your purposes and if so please ask again with more specific details so that a more specific answer can be given. If you are making particular reference to some specific situation then it has been lost on me and I would be grateful for clarification. > Over and out. > > Damian _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org
