PM wades into debt debate: Football's not Britain's

You know things are not great in sport when the Prime Minister is wading into the debate over the mounting debt at football clubs. While some would suggest to Gordon Brown that it’s not wise for people in glass houses to throw stones, the man from No. 10 has claimed in the Times that clubs must trim their levels of leverage.

It is an issue for the clubs themselves they have got to deal with this issue. There is an issue here for supporters that, over the last few years, a number of clubs have become highly leveraged and therefore they have far higher levels of debt than the income they are able to generate from footballing activities and the television activities.

It is a matter that the clubs themselves have got to be concerned about. In many cases there are very simple ways that they can deal with these problems; in other cases, clubs don’t have the income that is necessary to deal with the leverage that they have.

It’s a worry to supporters and I think the management of football clubs have got to look very seriously at their responsibilities to their supporters, that they have high levels of income from the supporters but the debt levels have been at a leverage level that is too high.

Horse racing embraces a new racetrack on Thursday and it’s not just any racetrack. The Meydan city is opened to the public for the first round of the Maktoum Challenge and this place could be a bit special. It should be, seen as it is estimated to have cost $1.25 billion to construct. At a time of severe financial strife it could be seen as a huge gamble by Sheikh Mohammed, but Greg Wood in the Guardian feels it could be the start of something big.

The point about Meydan, for all the money and effort that has gone into its construction, is that it is not an end in itself. If the form of the last 30 years tells us anything, it is that Sheikh Mohammed not only thinks big, but also long term. He will have a five- and a 10-year plan for Meydan, which will surely envisage it being rather more than just a track to get Frankie and friends sharp for the Guineas meeting.

Dubai is not to everyone's taste. It can look and feel like a gaudy veneer on the surface of the desert and, in many respects, it is. But it also has the potential to stage a truly international championship race meeting, at the right time of the year and in the right time zone to attract a truly global audience. And, depending on how this year's Carnival goes, it could be here much sooner than you think.