• Redknapp to face charge of cheating the public revenue
• Should managers face fit and proper person test?

Harry Redknapp will be in court today to learn that the charge of cheating the public revenue has been referred by magistrates to the crown court. Redknapp denies the charge but if the allegations levelled against him by the City of London police and Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs are upheld then the Premier League has rather a tricky quandary on its hands.

Were the Tottenham Hotspur manager to have been on the board of his club as, for instance, Luiz Felipe Scolari once was at Chelsea, he would have had to submit to the league’s fit and proper person test. That states: “A person shall be disqualified from acting as a director if he has a conviction … in respect of any offence involving any act which would reasonably be considered to be dishonest (and, for the avoidance of doubt, irrespective of the actual sentence imposed).”

Which in plain English means if you are found guilty of an offence like cheating the public revenue you will be banned from acting as a director of a Premier League club.

Redknapp has done tremendous work for Spurs since his arrival there in October 2008 and the club, who consider it to be a private matter for Redknapp, can be expected to stand firmly by him.

But a serious question remains if the Tottenham manager is convicted for dishonest activities in a transfer while he was at Portsmouth: is the fit and proper person test credible if it does not cover managers?

Politicians line up

Ian Ritchie will today brief the Football League board on progress in the search to appoint Lord Mawhinney’s successor as chairman next month. After the Lord Triesman experience at the Football Association, board members are broadly against the appointment of another politician to the role. But Ritchie, who is leading the process, is more inclined to consider a public sector figure and has told friends he would not be averse to the “right” politician, as Mawhinney clearly has been. Indeed, with the former Tory MP Virginia Bottomley chairing the board and CEO practice at the League’s headhunter, Odgers Berndtson, the candidates likeliest to be proposed are public sector servants. And with an election due in May, there will be a few of them looking for what they call “a new challenge”.

World Cup bid gains exposure

The England 2018 World Cup bid is now in a position to strike some high-profile deals of its own thanks to sponsorship income from PricewaterhouseCoopers and BT. After being outflanked in its own capital city by the marketing budgets of the Australian and Qatari bids at last October’s Leaders in Football event, England 2018 has secured a visible position at next month’s Soccerex European Forum by sponsoring its first-night VIP reception.

Palace out of the rubble

Anyone interested in buying Crystal Palace can expect to have a new party to deal with when the ownership of Selhurst Park passes to Lloyds Bank. It is thought that the bank, whose subsidiary HBOS loaned hundreds of millions of pounds to Paul Kemsley’s collapsed Rock Joint Ventures, will today take over the property from Rock’s administrator, PWC, in part payment for that debt.

Counties count the cost

English counties have paid the price for the England & Wales Cricket Board’s stubborn failure to become a shareholder in the Champions League after Lalit Modi announced this year’s tournament will take place during the county season. The Indian Premier League commissioner made his announcement of the 10-26 September schedule clash on Twitter yesterday.

During the talks that led to the tournament with India, South Africa and Australia being set up, the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, insisted on all four nations having equal, 25% equity stakes in the competition. A stand-off ensued when India refused, Australia and South Africa caved in and now only those three nations are Champions League shareholders. With no say in how the competition is run, English clubs have been left in the cold.

Harry RedknappTottenham HotspurBusinessMatt Scottguardian.co.uk

• Manager annoyed by former team-mate’s lack of respect
• ‘I am disappointed with Spurs, disappointed with Gudjohnsen’

The West Ham manager, Gianfranco Zola, admits he has lost respect for Eidur Gudjohnsen after the Iceland forward chose to snub the Hammers at the 11th hour in favour of a switch to Tottenham.

After holding talks with Zola, Gudjohnsen is believed to have agreed terms on a loan move to Upton Park and undergone a medical before Spurs swooped late to secure his signature.

The normally placid Zola could not hide his disgust at the actions of Gudjohnsen, who played alongside the Italian at Chelsea between 2000 and 2003, and admitted he had been let down by the player.

“I am disappointed with Spurs and disappointed with Gudjohnsen. I was expecting good behaviour from him,” Zola said. “They keep telling me that football has got like this right now and I keep saying that when I’m dealing with people, I always expect for the people that I have got in front me to behave in a certain way – with respect.

“OK, that wasn’t the case here. But we move on. We have a lot of things to achieve here this season and we can still achieve them anyway.”

Zola has made the signing of at least one striker his priority as the January transfer window draws to a close. Gudjohnsen, who completed his move to Spurs today, has been scrubbed off Zola’s wish-list but West Ham are very close to confirming the acquisition of Benni McCarthy from Blackburn. The South Africa international wants more game time ahead of this summer’s World Cup and Zola is willing to give it to him.

“The deal is not done yet but it’s very close,” said Zola, who confirmed Luis Jiménez is set to leave the club and return to Italian football. “He is a player who will fit in with our philosophy very much. Hopefully it will be all right.”

Manchester City’s Benjani Mwaruwari, Scott McDonald of Celtic and the Egypt striker Mido are among the names to have cropped up but Zola is remaining tight-lipped.

“Mido and others are names that are circulating but as far as I’m concerned, Benni is the only one close to us,” he added. “He’s the only one I want to talk about. I am sure the club will be linked to many names but Benni is the real target for us.”

West Ham UnitedTottenham HotspurTransfer windowPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk