A foreign affair

WITH SOME COMMENTATORS suggesting that up to 80% of the world's population will have watched an element of this year's football world cup and the game continuing to attract the billions of Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) and Silvio Berlusconi (AC Milan) the amount of money being invested into football is likely to continue to increase.

The 'Annual review of football finances' says that English professional clubs paid a record level of taxes during the 2004-05 season i.e. in excess of £600 million and the figures are predicted to increase in 2005-06 and beyond. Thus it is not surprising that football and increasingly other sports such as rugby union and league will continue to attract what they would consider to be an unhealthy interest from HMRC.

Whether that interest is at a personal level or perhaps at club level bearing in mind how the...