Emiliano Sala's Agent Battling Winding Up Order from HMRC

Exclusive: Emiliano Sala's agents are battling a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs


Willie McKay was made bankrupt in 2015 and an FA source confirmed that only Mark McKay remains registered with the governing body as an intermediary.

Daily Telegraph

February 2019


The player agents who helped arrange Emiliano Sala’s doomed flight over the English Channel have been battling a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs, Telegraph Sport can disclose.



Mercato Sports – a company registered in the names of Mark McKay and the wife of his businessman father, Willie McKay – was due to face the High Court two days after Sala’s flight disappeared en route from France to Wales.

Last night, McKay senior reacted furiously when approached for comment over the HMRC claim. He insisted the bill had been cleared and also indicated the mix-up took place because the Government had the company’s address wrong. A High Court official said a follow-up court date had been set for this month, but McKay claimed the case had been closed.

The HMRC battle is one of two legal rows involving the family in recent months, it is understood. Mercato Sports and Mark McKay were also in dispute with Everton over a 2017 player transfer. The Merseyside club are understood to have refused to pay an agreed fee over a row involving the company’s Football Association registration.

Sala’s single-engined flight disappeared on Jan 21. Both Mark and Willie have released statements confirming their involvement in helping arrange the flight free of charge to Sala. Willie described how he told experienced pilot David Henderson: “Dave, I need a plane.” However, part-time engineer Dave Ibbotson, 59, was at the controls when the Piper Malibu is believed to have crashed after leaving Nantes for Cardiff.Mercato Sports is registered in the names of McKay’s son and wife, Janis.

Willie McKay was made bankrupt in 2015 and an FA source confirmed that only Mark McKay remains registered with the governing body as an intermediary.

The legal wrangle with Everton over the 2017 transfer is ongoing, according to McKay. He said the club still owed the company money, but details surrounding the case are limited. A legal report filed last September says: “The claimants alleged that in 2017 they brought an unnamed footballer (“AB”) to the attention of the defendant football club (“Everton”). They claimed payment pursuant to an implied contract or retainer or by reason of unjust enrichment. Everton denied liability and further sought a stay of proceedings on the basis that Rule K of the FA Rules operated as an arbitration agreement between the claimants and Everton. There was no dispute that the Second Claimant (“Mr McKay”) was an intermediary registered with the FA. In those circumstances, it was accepted that Mr McKay’s claim would be stayed. However, the position as regards the First Claimant (“Mercato”) was less clear.”

Last night Willie McKay attacked The Telegraph for looking into his company’s business dealings, but the agent had voluntarily provided details about his activities a day earlier.

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I had a feeling someone would go bust, this story just goes from bad to worse!

I had a feeling someone would go bust, this story just goes from bad to worse!

Probably won't be the last

should be brought to juistice now f**k@ng wanker

Karma. What a pair of cowboys.

brought a player to the attention of the club.

don't clubs bother scouting themselves anymore ?

I had a feeling someone would go bust, this story just goes from bad to worse!

Probably won't be the last

I agree with you there

Once the investigations are done with the AAIB and, more importantly, Emiliano Sala's Family have closure- He should be bought to book with Corporate Manslaughter and, permanently banned from Football indefinitely.

Proper Crook

Are they winding up the company to avoid any law suits? Hmmmm.

I reckon your spot on there mate. Wouldn't surprise me i n the slightest with them.

Are they winding up the company to avoid any law suits? Hmmmm.

Well no, because it's not them asking for the Order and I gather that they're resisting it. Your idea might be a good one from their point of view at this stage though.

you won't see much sympathy for agents on most football forums.

the problem i have with them is not the money they charge, it's that they take fees from both sides, thus giving them a conflict of interests. if the player is happy to have the fee deducted from his wages, that's his problem. if he takes a fee from the buying club, then he can't claim to be acting in the players interests.

and this one is a classic greedy agent. moves players around as much as possible to make as much money as possible.

and to top it off the fucker doesnt even pay his taxes. stealing money from us all.

If there’s a case to answer Tan will pursue it and will have the full backing of everybody.
Corporate manslaughter would be a start

you won't see much sympathy for agents on most football forums.

the problem i have with them is not the money they charge, it's that they take fees from both sides, thus giving them a conflict of interests. if the player is happy to have the fee deducted from his wages, that's his problem. if he takes a fee from the buying club, then he can't claim to be acting in the players interests.

and this one is a classic greedy agent. moves players around as much as possible to make as much money as possible.

and to top it off the fucker doesnt even pay his taxes. stealing money from us all.

Yeah, I take your point. I don't doubt that most of them are generally dodgy characters and certainly greedy people you wouldn't warm to. It's just that I take issue with people somehow blaming this one for the death of these people, and since it's an unfortunate fact of life that clubs have to deal with "agents", I can't see any reason why we should avoid this particular one because he happened to be involved in a transfer that had a dreadful but unrelated outcome.

Good they have blood on their hands

I'm confused a little. He wasn't actually his agent was he?

I'm confused a little. He wasn't actually his agent was he?

No the answer is. He was helping out and don't know why the club let him get involved.

I agree.. Why did the Club get involved with these f*cking idiots...I'll tell you why!

This all began back in November when Nantes thought they'd cash in on Emiliano Sala who at the time was scoring for fun in Ligue 1 in France.

He was somewhat of an unknown in Europe only, in French circles, as outside French Football nobody blinks twice at.

It was around November time when Cardiff got involved and emaiks, media (social) that is and texts started flying about that Sala could command a hefty fee. And this is where these brokers, I won't call them Agents, just brokers- thought they'd cash in on bringing Saka to the attention of Leagues outside of Europe, to boost his value and therefore making Agents and Brokers here, namely the Makays!!!

As Cardiff's interest got more serious with regards the January window, it was then that Malay started banding about other clubs being interested to inflate his price at the same time, these clowns a hefty slice of the overall reported €15m that Sala initially cost.

So when people say its no point in blaming these people for all this...it is..and they should be investigated fully as to the involvement, if Emiliano Sala has perished tragically.

Remember it was The Malays who instigated the Aircraft to bring Sala over, it was the Malays who ordered the plane. It was The Malays who asked David Henderson to pilot the Plane, it was the Malays who arranged everything about this doomed Aircraft that killed Sala..allegedly!

So they should be fully bought to account for their involvement and brought before the Criminal Courts so that they can be examined as to their existence to this whole sorry mess surrounding these people.

Excuse my autocorrect button has stopped working.

THAT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE MAKAYS
AND NOT

THE MALAYS. SORRY ABOUT THAT

I didn't like to mention that - I thought you'd been a Chindit in that dreadful war against the Japanese and it'd sent you mad.

Seriously though, you really can't blame them or anyone else just because they were involved in the various transactions unless you can show some negligence or malice. You might as well blame Cardiff City or Nantes.

You make it clear that you don't like the role of various intermediaries in business matters or the fact that they profit from that - well that's more a political opinion than anything else, which has no part in the question of culpability in what appears on the face of it to be an accident.

I don't particularly want to be cast in the role of defending the McKays. They might well be found responsible for contributing to the matter when it's been properly investigated, as may any of the other parties , but this lynch mob mentality of picking the person you don't like out of all the parties involved and blaming them is a scary one on many levels . It's obviously unjust, ( or certainly should be to a normal person), but it also tends to protect any actual culprits who might emerge from objective investigation from blame or responsibility doesn't it !

I'm not casting Judgement or blame until the facts of the investigation have been concluded.

When you hear of stuff in the Press about Financial difficulties whether they are true or not, it does tend to sway your bias somewhat.

There are many people in this saga who ought to be questioned and, I'm sure they all will in due course.

But you look at the facts thus far: from The Aircraft Owners to David Henderson; to David Ibbotson and whether he was qualified to operate such an aircraft at all; all of which The Makays have been involved with, from Transport to Transfer.

Though you are right, I must hold my frustration until full due processes have been adhered to

The way football agents work has been criticised for years, they have no morals and sell their players off like meat, no regard for making sure the player will be happy, they just want to earn money.

IMO if people have no morals and want to make money like that - fine, good for them.

It's the Football associations around the worlds jobs to put rules in place to stop these vultures being able to do it, if they worked together they should even be able to come up with a way to force agents out of the business all together.

They won't do anything about it because FA's are just as bad as agents... A manager speaks his own mind in an interview = gets a fine... A player posts his personal thoughts on Twitter = gets a fine.

Slave like, controlling behaviours because it's all about the money.

clubs are between a rock and a hard place. I am sure they dont WANT to spend millions which could go to the player, transferring club, MORE players or heavens forbid cheaper tickets for fans by lining the pockets of agents. But if they DONT use them they do not get access the players they want which could mean the difference between top level professional football and falling through the leagues to obscurity. However these agents contribute little value to football as a game and even as an industry. Players are the generators of revenue - without there there would be no game. They provide value. coaches and managers mould those players in to teams. They add value. Clubs provide a home and fans, be they of the club or the game in general are the life blood providing a reason to play and money to thrive. Agents.

Well.

They have certainly created a niche. Worryingly Sala was not even represented by mackay. HE just elbowed his way in.

If the players need a representative, fine. There should be a list of registered players at the governing body of the nation. They can keep a list of the players representative. ANy and all player transfer enquires should start at the club by an official of the interested party. Really the agents should only become involved once the club has agreed to sell and the player agrees he is interested. They can then negotiate the contract. The only time the agent should be the first port of call is if the player is unattached.

Even if the player is formally listed for sale the buying club would should go to the selling club first.

If the system was formalised I accept it would be hard to police but whack multi million fines on clubs found to be in breech and maybe they would stop.

Also. outlaw cuts of sale fees to agents. Make the player pay for the agent on a retainer. Maybe that would stop some of the shenanigans? Make players liable for fines if the agent takes a cut?

Maybe draconian but sometimes draconian is the only way to go when people take the mick.

Willie McKay is not Sala agent.

Willie McKay is not Sala agent.

EXACTLY

I did comment on that actually. But what on earth sort of system allows someone who represents neither a club nor a player to be the middle man for a massive transfer?? My point above still stands for the clubs. They are stuck between using these people to access the best players or missing out completely and the club suffering as a result.

Willie McKay is not Sala agent.

EXACTLY

I did comment on that actually. But what on earth sort of system allows someone who represents neither a club nor a player to be the middle man for a massive transfer?? My point above still stands for the clubs. They are stuck between using these people to access the best players or missing out completely and the club suffering as a result.

Willie McKay should be banned from football

Willie McKay is not Sala agent.

EXACTLY

I did comment on that actually. But what on earth sort of system allows someone who represents neither a club nor a player to be the middle man for a massive transfer?? My point above still stands for the clubs. They are stuck between using these people to access the best players or missing out completely and the club suffering as a result.

Willie McKay should be banned from football

He isnt even registered as an agent IIRC. I believe thats why his son did the negotiations. The problem isnt Willie McKay. The problem is a system that allows people like that to weasel in to the system in the first place.

Reform the system and punish those that flaunt it