Sam Hammam rejects settlement offers

Sam Hammam is unwilling to accept three Cardiff City offers to pay off the Langston loan notes.

The Bluebirds have offered former owner Hammam up to £13m and a club life presidency to rid themselves of the historic Langston debt.

Cardiff chief executive Alan Whiteley has confirmed the club have given Hammam three options to consider, but the Langston representative has not yet responded.

And the Echo can reveal that Hammam has told his closest associates in South Wales that none of the club’s current offers are suitable.

Bluebirds fan Annis Abraham, a close friend of Hammam, said: “I have spoken to Sam and the options put forward are not acceptable to Langston.

“I believe Sam would look favourably if an offer of £10m paid in full up front was put forward, but right now it’s a no from Langston.”

Lebanese businessman Hammam was the Bluebirds owner when the Langston corporation issued £24m in loan notes to Cardiff City in 2004.

Now the club’s Malaysian investors are keen to put that debt behind them and Hammam has had meetings with principal investor Vincent Tan, club chairman Dato Chan Tien Ghee and Whiteley.

The options put forward by Cardiff City, who insist they have until 2016 to pay off the Langston debt, are:

1 £8m payable within 30 days.

2 £10m with £3m payable now and the rest at the end of the 2012-13 season.

3. £13m with £8m payable this year and an additional £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premiership.

Whiteley said Langston have yet to reply to any of the offers.

He also confirmed Hammam would be welcome to a life presidency at the club and attend as many matches as he wanted to at the stadium if he accepted any deal on the table.

But he would not have the power to make decisions on either football or non-football matters at the club.

Hammam took over Cardiff at the end of 2000, but left in October 2006 after agreeing to sell his majority shareholding when Peter Ridsdale became chief executive.

Details of the payment options to Langston were revealed during a meeting on Wednesday night when club officials met supporters who have asked for their season ticket money to be refunded.

The fans made this request in the wake of the club’s controversial rebranding exercise with Cardiff’s home kit now being red rather than traditional blue and a dragon badge replacing the familiar Bluebird.

Tan and Dato Chan have pledged a £100m investment as soon as the Langston issue is resolved.

The investment would fund strengthening manager Malky Mackay’s squad, upgrade training ground and stadium facilities and pay off historic debts.

Tan said in a statement that a further £35m will be pumped into the club over the next 12 months, taking his total investment to £75.8m.



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z1z9inPpdl

Put your selves in Sam's position.

I must admit when the £24million debt is accruing interest of 7% and having waited 6 years and there is only 3 years to go (yet it is payable in full today) I can understand why Langston are not the ones desperate to get the deal done.

I believe I know who is holding the aces, so to speak.

He can hold out for £24 mill plus interest in 2016, He has said, I will take £10 mill now and go,VT says he has put £10 mill aside for Langston, so why not pay them. why would he take that in instalments, he may as well wait for the lot if he was going to do that.


They also forget to tell u the original deal was £10 mill and paid in one, but later VT moved the goal posts after Sam had accepted, bit like what he did with us fans the other week regarding our badge/colour. Hmm

Our club this way gets Sam gone for good and an excellent deal.

Annis I dont think Tan has got the money to pay Sam and Langston off , that's why CCFC are stalling ??

Sam got us in this mess

A few having a go at Annis in the comments.

Sam got us in this mess

and also so too did Ridsdale dont forget ..... plus for all of Sam's debt CCFC , Jones and Ridsdale sold £millions worth of players OUT yet the debt remained !!

Sam got us in this mess

Were we not in a mess before Sam arrived ?

Rem the Kumar brothers ?

Rem Tony Clemo ?

I could go on and on.

If the 10 million is there just BLOODY PAY IT but then VT would have to make good on his promise to turn the debt to equity

Jeff ..... Tan hasnt got the money yet mate , its all bollox I think ??

With the re branding I believe that the club set aside 10m to pay off the debt. So why not pay it? I understand the club want the best deal but I consider 10m to be a lot less than 24m and one debt would have been cleared. It's just dragged on and on.

Sam got us in this mess

Were we not in a mess before Sam arrived ?

Rem the Kumar brothers ?

Rem Tony Clemo ?

I could go on and on.

Agreed but the guy I think turned the club around was Rick Wright but he took it as far as he could - ever since then we have been gathering debt season after season
But sam must realise if we went into administration he would get a fraction of what he wanst at best

Wonder what the forensic accounts showed? Bet it was an investment of a lot less than £24m. Hope we eventually see the back of Mr Hammam for good, he's a crook end of!

Wonder what the forensic accounts showed? Bet it was an investment of a lot less than £24m. Hope we eventually see the back of Mr Hammam for good, he's a crook end of!

Yes I would love to know what they found, if there was really ever any forensic accountants ?
If they had found anything, I dont think they would be offering Langston anything do u ?

Sam got us in this mess

Were we not in a mess before Sam arrived ?

Rem the Kumar brothers ?

Rem Tony Clemo ?

I could go on and on.

Agreed but the guy I think turned the club around was Rick Wright but he took it as far as he could - ever since then we have been gathering debt season after season
But sam must realise if we went into administration he would get a fraction of what he wanst at best

Thats why he agreed £10 mill up front and then 2 weeks later Tan changed the way it would be paid. Just give him the £10mill agreed, then we can all move on.





Vincent Tan has publicly stated that £10 million has been set aside to end this sorry affair as a part of the alleged investment package, so why not just pay Hammam £10 million now and be done with it?

It surely doesn't make any sense to drag this out any longer than is absolutely necessary. After all, the longer it goes on, the longer it is going to take for Vincent Tan to convert his debts into equity, and the more interest at 7% pa the club will accrue on the massive loans he is providing.

Jeff ..... Tan hasnt got the money yet mate , its all bollox I think ??

Mart, He's supposed to be a Billionaire and just earned millions from his Facebook shares so i can't see how he hasn't got the money

If its true he ll accept 10 mill,then they should take 2 mill out of transfer kitty and pay him and then the club can move on.

Maybe VT is worried that if he agrees to pay the £10m , Sam will ask for a further £500,000 just as the paperwork is about to be signed.

But then Sam loves Cardiff so he wouldn't do that.

Would he?

I think we are ALL being conned by VT, I wouldnt trust him as far as I can throw him.

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

At the end of the day I believe the board quoted 10m as being put aside to sort out the Langston debt. If that is the case, and it is a part of the re branding you have to ask why they are not going to resolve this issue which has been going on for a long time.

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

IF it comes. And one poster has got it right. Vincent Tan is not to be trusted with your club. Sadly too many are being sucked into the 'promises' that are coming from him, but from what I have seen from afar none of these promises have come to fruition as yet, and certainly he hasn't got a decent track record of keeping his word. He is playing games with a lot of people and everything is on his terms. Once again, I will say that we had this with Briatore at QPR. His 'big idea' was to turn the club into a 'boutique side', a kind of London Monaco, where the good and great would be seen going to a football match at exhorbitant prices (c-club season tickets, maximum of 100 available at £10,000 a shot, these were situated at the front of the South Africa Road Stand, further back W12 season tickets at £3,000 a shot, re-vamped executive boxes at £72,000 a season, more than Spuds, Arsenal and Chel***, and we were still nothing more than a championship side. And our season ticket prices increasing by 51% in two seasons. 'Boutique' club shop where a cashmere scarf would cost you £80 and QPR slippers £200, which could be complimented by QPR trainers at the same price. Like Briatore, Tan hasn't got a scooby on how to run a football club, respect the supporters (who are the football club) or the history. And he will leave Cardiff City in an even bigger mess then they were before he came. The club would not have gone bust in 2010, may have gone into administration but wouldn't have gone bust, christ even Pompey haven't gone bust and their debt was much bigger than Cardiff's but what they still have is their support united and their identity intact. They may be in League One now, but do you think that the supporters really care about that, do they heck, they are happy that they have a club to support, an identity and a history to be proud of. We went into administration in 2001, we got relegated to League One, five years after being in the PL. Did we moan and groan, did we heck, we got behind the club, the support united and we were prouder than ever to be QPR supporters, we collected funds for the club and we got through. Briatore also claims like Tan that without him we would have gone bust. Bollox would we, we would have gone into administration, and although I doubt that we would be where we are now, the supporters would have pulled the club through, the attendances, like in 2001 would have held up, and this would also have been true of Cardiff City. For the long term future of Cardiff City, I really do believe that getting rid of Tan is the best option. Pride, history and identity is far more important than prostituting yourself in the hope that this would bring higher league football.

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

IF it comes. And one poster has got it right. Vincent Tan is not to be trusted with your club. Sadly too many are being sucked into the 'promises' that are coming from him, but from what I have seen from afar none of these promises have come to fruition as yet, and certainly he hasn't got a decent track record of keeping his word. He is playing games with a lot of people and everything is on his terms. Once again, I will say that we had this with Briatore at QPR. His 'big idea' was to turn the club into a 'boutique side', a kind of London Monaco, where the good and great would be seen going to a football match at exhorbitant prices (c-club season tickets, maximum of 100 available at £10,000 a shot, these were situated at the front of the South Africa Road Stand, further back W12 season tickets at £3,000 a shot, re-vamped executive boxes at £72,000 a season, more than Spuds, Arsenal and Chel***, and we were still nothing more than a championship side. And our season ticket prices increasing by 51% in two seasons. 'Boutique' club shop where a cashmere scarf would cost you £80 and QPR slippers £200, which could be complimented by QPR trainers at the same price. Like Briatore, Tan hasn't got a scooby on how to run a football club, respect the supporters (who are the football club) or the history. And he will leave Cardiff City in an even bigger mess then they were before he came. The club would not have gone bust in 2010, may have gone into administration but wouldn't have gone bust, christ even Pompey haven't gone bust and their debt was much bigger than Cardiff's but what they still have is their support united and their identity intact. They may be in League One now, but do you think that the supporters really care about that, do they heck, they are happy that they have a club to support, an identity and a history to be proud of. We went into administration in 2001, we got relegated to League One, five years after being in the PL. Did we moan and groan, did we heck, we got behind the club, the support united and we were prouder than ever to be QPR supporters, we collected funds for the club and we got through. Briatore also claims like Tan that without him we would have gone bust. Bollox would we, we would have gone into administration, and although I doubt that we would be where we are now, the supporters would have pulled the club through, the attendances, like in 2001 would have held up, and this would also have been true of Cardiff City. For the long term future of Cardiff City, I really do believe that getting rid of Tan is the best option. Pride, history and identity is far more important than prostituting yourself in the hope that this would bring higher league football.

Well said mate, 100% spot on. Sadly a lot of our fans are happy to eat whatever s*** this idiot running our clubs spouts.

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

IF it comes. And one poster has got it right. Vincent Tan is not to be trusted with your club. Sadly too many are being sucked into the 'promises' that are coming from him, but from what I have seen from afar none of these promises have come to fruition as yet, and certainly he hasn't got a decent track record of keeping his word. He is playing games with a lot of people and everything is on his terms. Once again, I will say that we had this with Briatore at QPR. His 'big idea' was to turn the club into a 'boutique side', a kind of London Monaco, where the good and great would be seen going to a football match at exhorbitant prices (c-club season tickets, maximum of 100 available at £10,000 a shot, these were situated at the front of the South Africa Road Stand, further back W12 season tickets at £3,000 a shot, re-vamped executive boxes at £72,000 a season, more than Spuds, Arsenal and Chel***, and we were still nothing more than a championship side. And our season ticket prices increasing by 51% in two seasons. 'Boutique' club shop where a cashmere scarf would cost you £80 and QPR slippers £200, which could be complimented by QPR trainers at the same price. Like Briatore, Tan hasn't got a scooby on how to run a football club, respect the supporters (who are the football club) or the history. And he will leave Cardiff City in an even bigger mess then they were before he came. The club would not have gone bust in 2010, may have gone into administration but wouldn't have gone bust, christ even Pompey haven't gone bust and their debt was much bigger than Cardiff's but what they still have is their support united and their identity intact. They may be in League One now, but do you think that the supporters really care about that, do they heck, they are happy that they have a club to support, an identity and a history to be proud of. We went into administration in 2001, we got relegated to League One, five years after being in the PL. Did we moan and groan, did we heck, we got behind the club, the support united and we were prouder than ever to be QPR supporters, we collected funds for the club and we got through. Briatore also claims like Tan that without him we would have gone bust. Bollox would we, we would have gone into administration, and although I doubt that we would be where we are now, the supporters would have pulled the club through, the attendances, like in 2001 would have held up, and this would also have been true of Cardiff City. For the long term future of Cardiff City, I really do believe that getting rid of Tan is the best option. Pride, history and identity is far more important than prostituting yourself in the hope that this would bring higher league football.

Well said mate, 100% spot on. Sadly a lot of our fans are happy to eat whatever s*** this idiot running our clubs spouts.

Agree but what is option . How can WE remove him ? What are other options ? who else is willing to invest ? Is everyone denying £1m a month put in ?

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

IF it comes. And one poster has got it right. Vincent Tan is not to be trusted with your club. Sadly too many are being sucked into the 'promises' that are coming from him, but from what I have seen from afar none of these promises have come to fruition as yet, and certainly he hasn't got a decent track record of keeping his word. He is playing games with a lot of people and everything is on his terms. Once again, I will say that we had this with Briatore at QPR. His 'big idea' was to turn the club into a 'boutique side', a kind of London Monaco, where the good and great would be seen going to a football match at exhorbitant prices (c-club season tickets, maximum of 100 available at £10,000 a shot, these were situated at the front of the South Africa Road Stand, further back W12 season tickets at £3,000 a shot, re-vamped executive boxes at £72,000 a season, more than Spuds, Arsenal and Chel***, and we were still nothing more than a championship side. And our season ticket prices increasing by 51% in two seasons. 'Boutique' club shop where a cashmere scarf would cost you £80 and QPR slippers £200, which could be complimented by QPR trainers at the same price. Like Briatore, Tan hasn't got a scooby on how to run a football club, respect the supporters (who are the football club) or the history. And he will leave Cardiff City in an even bigger mess then they were before he came. The club would not have gone bust in 2010, may have gone into administration but wouldn't have gone bust, christ even Pompey haven't gone bust and their debt was much bigger than Cardiff's but what they still have is their support united and their identity intact. They may be in League One now, but do you think that the supporters really care about that, do they heck, they are happy that they have a club to support, an identity and a history to be proud of. We went into administration in 2001, we got relegated to League One, five years after being in the PL. Did we moan and groan, did we heck, we got behind the club, the support united and we were prouder than ever to be QPR supporters, we collected funds for the club and we got through. Briatore also claims like Tan that without him we would have gone bust. Bollox would we, we would have gone into administration, and although I doubt that we would be where we are now, the supporters would have pulled the club through, the attendances, like in 2001 would have held up, and this would also have been true of Cardiff City. For the long term future of Cardiff City, I really do believe that getting rid of Tan is the best option. Pride, history and identity is far more important than prostituting yourself in the hope that this would bring higher league football.

Well said mate, 100% spot on. Sadly a lot of our fans are happy to eat whatever s*** this idiot running our clubs spouts.

Agree but what is option . How can WE remove him ? What are other options ? who else is willing to invest ? Is everyone denying £1m a month put in ?

Its funny reading comments as if "thats what we would do " - its £10 MILLION guys - would you give £10MILLION of your own money .

We dont know full conversations but seems strange that they will be paying £10m either way , maybe they are waiting for Prem money but when that comes we need to pay of an awful lot of money including the £10m then owed to Malaysians unless they do actually put it into equity

IF it comes. And one poster has got it right. Vincent Tan is not to be trusted with your club. Sadly too many are being sucked into the 'promises' that are coming from him, but from what I have seen from afar none of these promises have come to fruition as yet, and certainly he hasn't got a decent track record of keeping his word. He is playing games with a lot of people and everything is on his terms. Once again, I will say that we had this with Briatore at QPR. His 'big idea' was to turn the club into a 'boutique side', a kind of London Monaco, where the good and great would be seen going to a football match at exhorbitant prices (c-club season tickets, maximum of 100 available at £10,000 a shot, these were situated at the front of the South Africa Road Stand, further back W12 season tickets at £3,000 a shot, re-vamped executive boxes at £72,000 a season, more than Spuds, Arsenal and Chel***, and we were still nothing more than a championship side. And our season ticket prices increasing by 51% in two seasons. 'Boutique' club shop where a cashmere scarf would cost you £80 and QPR slippers £200, which could be complimented by QPR trainers at the same price. Like Briatore, Tan hasn't got a scooby on how to run a football club, respect the supporters (who are the football club) or the history. And he will leave Cardiff City in an even bigger mess then they were before he came. The club would not have gone bust in 2010, may have gone into administration but wouldn't have gone bust, christ even Pompey haven't gone bust and their debt was much bigger than Cardiff's but what they still have is their support united and their identity intact. They may be in League One now, but do you think that the supporters really care about that, do they heck, they are happy that they have a club to support, an identity and a history to be proud of. We went into administration in 2001, we got relegated to League One, five years after being in the PL. Did we moan and groan, did we heck, we got behind the club, the support united and we were prouder than ever to be QPR supporters, we collected funds for the club and we got through. Briatore also claims like Tan that without him we would have gone bust. Bollox would we, we would have gone into administration, and although I doubt that we would be where we are now, the supporters would have pulled the club through, the attendances, like in 2001 would have held up, and this would also have been true of Cardiff City. For the long term future of Cardiff City, I really do believe that getting rid of Tan is the best option. Pride, history and identity is far more important than prostituting yourself in the hope that this would bring higher league football.

Well said mate, 100% spot on. Sadly a lot of our fans are happy to eat whatever s*** this idiot running our clubs spouts.

Agree but what is option . How can WE remove him ? What are other options ? who else is willing to invest ? Is everyone denying £1m a month put in ?

He will only ever remove himself, he may get bored with Cardiff City (and it is now documented that he had only taken an interest in the last six months ), and could quite as easily get disinterested again, no doubt if PL status is not achieved, or as we did at QPR, organise protests against Briatore, which pissed him off and was without doubt the beginning of the end of his tenure, (he transferred his holdings to Ecclestone). Either way, in the short term it would get messy but Cardiff City would survive, stronger and better than before and with new owners I would be sure that understand football and football supporters.

Sam got us in this mess

Facts are that Sam does not give a flying f**k about the club.

He still has friends at the club and VT has said he will convert to shares if it is accepted by sam. Sam still has so called "frriends" at the club and wouldnt you think that it would put the minds of these "friends" at rest of he was just to say yes to one of the deals.

I have said it before i will say it again, Sam had a plan and it didnt work so he coverd his own arse by calling it a loan and asking for it back

Does not give a shit about CCFC~!

Sam Hammam is unwilling to accept three Cardiff City offers to pay off the Langston loan notes.

The Bluebirds have offered former owner Hammam up to £13m and a club life presidency to rid themselves of the historic Langston debt.

Cardiff chief executive Alan Whiteley has confirmed the club have given Hammam three options to consider, but the Langston representative has not yet responded.

And the Echo can reveal that Hammam has told his closest associates in South Wales that none of the club’s current offers are suitable.

Bluebirds fan Annis Abraham, a close friend of Hammam, said: “I have spoken to Sam and the options put forward are not acceptable to Langston.




The worrying part in the above is:
Tan and Dato Chan have pledged a £100m investment as soon as the Langston issue is resolved.

VT holds the aces here. If he walks away which is a possibility - Langston receives Zilch.
Perhaps that 100 Million investment is not coming because Langston debt will not be resolved.







“I believe Sam would look favourably if an offer of £10m paid in full up front was put forward, but right now it’s a no from Langston.”

Lebanese businessman Hammam was the Bluebirds owner when the Langston corporation issued £24m in loan notes to Cardiff City in 2004.

Now the club’s Malaysian investors are keen to put that debt behind them and Hammam has had meetings with principal investor Vincent Tan, club chairman Dato Chan Tien Ghee and Whiteley.

The options put forward by Cardiff City, who insist they have until 2016 to pay off the Langston debt, are:

1 £8m payable within 30 days.

2 £10m with £3m payable now and the rest at the end of the 2012-13 season.

3. £13m with £8m payable this year and an additional £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premiership.

Whiteley said Langston have yet to reply to any of the offers.

He also confirmed Hammam would be welcome to a life presidency at the club and attend as many matches as he wanted to at the stadium if he accepted any deal on the table.

But he would not have the power to make decisions on either football or non-football matters at the club.

Hammam took over Cardiff at the end of 2000, but left in October 2006 after agreeing to sell his majority shareholding when Peter Ridsdale became chief executive.

Details of the payment options to Langston were revealed during a meeting on Wednesday night when club officials met supporters who have asked for their season ticket money to be refunded.

The fans made this request in the wake of the club’s controversial rebranding exercise with Cardiff’s home kit now being red rather than traditional blue and a dragon badge replacing the familiar Bluebird.

Tan and Dato Chan have pledged a £100m investment as soon as the Langston issue is resolved.

The investment would fund strengthening manager Malky Mackay’s squad, upgrade training ground and stadium facilities and pay off historic debts.

Tan said in a statement that a further £35m will be pumped into the club over the next 12 months, taking his total investment to £75.8m.



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z1z9inPpdl

As i have previously said on a different thread, call his bluff and give him one final offer or tell him we,ll see him in court in 2016, it,s HIS debt, he created it himself, it,s also unsecured, he wont have a leg to stand on in court. What did he once say to Annis, Gwyn and some others, "i would NEVER harm/hurt the Cardiff City family" well hammam, prove it, nows your chance!!!

Maybe VT is worried that if he agrees to pay the £10m , Sam will ask for a further £500,000 just as the paperwork is about to be signed.

But then Sam loves Cardiff so he wouldn't do that.

Would he?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6205951.stm

Because this board is run by someone who is very close to Hammam. therefore whilst 'Anti Sam' comments are allowed in the name of fairness there is selective memory loss over much of what he did to the club......

Like try to change the colour to green
Like trying to change the name
Like changing the badge
Like promising to only put in £3m of his own money but then burdening us with £30m of debt with Citibank
Like helicoptering Kav in Tears to Sheffield when it all went pop
Like demanding half a million for him and quarter of a million for his brother to walk away

But its the Malaysians who are the real enemy. I wonder why that is?