The investigation into corruption in football appeared to be on the brink of collapse last night after David Sullivan, Birmingham City's plc chairman, and Karren Brady, the club's managing director, were cleared of allegations of financial wrongdoing. The latest development means that six of the nine people arrested as part of Operation Apprentice have now been released from police bail.
Milan Mandaric, the Leicester City chairman, Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, and Peter Storrie, Portsmouth's executive chairman, are still waiting to learn their fate, although a final decision is expected in the next month. The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office is reviewing evidence in relation to the trio and their time together at Portsmouth before deciding whether to bring criminal proceedings.
There must, however, be serious doubts as to whether anyone will face charges, with the investigation, on which City of London Police and HM Revenue & Customs have worked since the turn of the year, seemingly grinding to a halt in recent months. The agent Willie McKay was cleared at the start of June and now Brady and Sullivan, who were arrested in April 2008, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting, have also been exonerated.
Both Brady and Sullivan had maintained their innocence throughout, with the latter proving a fierce critic of the amount of police time and money that was put into the investigation, which began in April 2007. Last night Sullivan told the Guardian he was relieved to learn that the ordeal was over and that he could now move on. "This ends two years of stress for myself and my family. I'm glad the matter is now resolved," he said.
David Gold, Sullivan's business partner at St Andrew's, expressed his "delight" at the decision. "It's something I have been expecting for a long time," said Gold. "It didn't occur to me for one second that they were a part of any wrongdoing, having known their character from working with them for over 20 years. They are two of the most upstanding people I have ever worked with and I don't want anyone to ever believe that they have been let off anything. They have never done anything wrong and this is the correct decision."
The Accrington Stanley captain who was charged by the Football Association with betting on his own team to lose was last night banned for eight months. Peter Cavanagh, one of four players then contracted by Accrington Stanley who was charged earlier this year with betting on a match in which they were involved, was also fined £3,500 by an independent FA regulatory commission. Last month, three other players were banned for betting on the outcome of Bury's 2-0 victory over Accrington Stanley on 3 May 2008.
Cavanagh's barrister, Martin Budworth, confirmed the sanction and said the player was considering whether to appeal following yesterday's hearing. The FA has declined to comment.