Alisher Usmanov’s £30 million sponsorship of the new Everton stadium, according to Jamie Carragher, was “a fiddle.”
Before the conflict in Ukraine deprived him of his possessions, the Russian tycoon was a significant supporter of the Toffees, forcing him to quit the team and leaving them short of cash.
This was part of the reason behind the team’s recent six-point deduction for FFP and PSR allegations; nevertheless, during an appearance on The Overlap Fan Debate on March 8, Carragher argued with a fan regarding the original sponsorship money, calling it “a fiddle.”
“Everton’s covid losses were like £50 or £100m more than everybody else’s, considering you haven’t got the biggest stadium and you don’t bring that much commercial stuff in,” he said.
“You’re not like a United or a Liverpool, bringing commercial revenue in.”
Carragher then asked what the sponsorship was about that got disregarded by the Premier League in their case against PSR charges. When told it was USR’s £30m for naming rights to the new stadium, Carragher wasn’t happy.
“They paid £30m for naming rights? Listen to this sponsorship, this is hilarious this one,” he said.
“What was the £30m they gave you for? It was the first dibs on the naming rights. It was a fiddle. It was a fiddle, you know it was a fiddle.”
He then laughed hysterically and told the fan to “behave”.
Everton suffering due to Farhad Moshiri’s nonsense
According to most reports at the time, Usmanov’s USR company had paid for the privilege of the naming rights for the Bramley Moore Dock Stadium for ten years.
Whether it was going to happen or not nobody knows anymore because the stadium is due to come out and there are no talks of a name coming yet, while Usmanov remains sidelined by the government for a war he’s not involved in.
However for Carragher to call it a fiddle is a reach considering the relationship that Farhad Moshiri had with him.
But in the end, that partnership has cost Everton absurd sums of money, major issues on the field, and more than six points already this season.
Everton has suffered greatly, and it will be best if new owners who are suitable for the team take over as soon as possible so that we can get out of this terrible mess.
