Source: Daily_Mail
Charles Sale: Wembley's tough line on box bandits
Wembley officials are cracking down on any box or seat holders who default on payments, including pursuing them through the courts if necessary.[LNB]The hardline attitude over the 17,000 corporate seats, so critical to Wembley's business plan, coincides with the Daily Mail revelation of John Terry's Wembley box being offered for sale, a story that proved the last straw for England manager Fabio Capello before he ditched the Chelsea defender as his captain.[LNB] Box clever: Wembley chiefs are cracking down on corporate box holders[LNB]The FA would not comment yesterday on whether the 'touting out' of Terry's box, which is contractually forbidden, will be the subject of legal action as part of the clampdown although payments for match catering were at least up to date.[LNB]New England captain Rio Ferdinand will not have the opportunity to lease a Wembley box as a matter of course. It was just coincidence rather than FA policy that the two previous skippers Terry and David Beckham both decided to rent boxes. And a 95 per cent renewal rate for Wembley club seats means there are none available even if Ferdinand wants one.[LNB]Meanwhile, the forthcoming scrutiny of Ferdinand's myriad off-field interests will be such that perhaps it is fortunate that a link from his official website to a Win World Cup tickets promotion on the front page of his digital online magazine #5 led nowhere.[LNB] England's World Cup 2018 team, whose early campaigning suffered through the Government reneging on their £5million funding, now have sponsors fighting each other to back the bid.[LNB]After PricewaterhouseCoopers and British Telecom came on board, British Airways and Virgin want to get involved and are competing strongly to be the 2018 carrier. It is understood BA have the edge but the ideal scenario would be to follow the London 2012 bid example, in which both airlines are sponsors.[LNB] Derby's Robbie Savage (right) has rapidly become the new darling of the celebrity-obsessed BBC to the extent that he will be part of the 5 Live pundit team for the World Cup, along with Graham Taylor and Chris Waddle. [LNB]By contrast, the Beeb blamed cost-cutting on their Six Nnations rugby contingent having to take a seven-hour minibus journey from London to Edinburgh on Saturday night after England v Wales at Twickenham in order to cover Scotland v France at Murrayfield yesterday.[LNB]There was one saving grace for the tired travellers commentator Brian 'Pitbull' Moore didn't make the long journey.[LNB] West Ham's new owners David Gold and David Sullivan have decided they can do without the specialist PR skills of former News of the World editor Phil Hall, who has been asked to stand down immediately as the club's communications advisor for financial reasons, even though his contract expires in April.[LNB]Hall is currently fully occupied on the sports front as adviser to deposed England captain John Terry.[LNB] RBS shindig scandal Royal Bank of Scotland, the title sponsors of the Six Nations who are 84 per cent state controlled after their £28billion loss in 2008, felt flush enough to have 200 corporate guests wining and dining at the England v Wales game at Twickenham. [LNB]This was despite another expected loss of £7bn in 2009. [LNB]RBS had cut their guest list to 70 for Six Nations matches at Twickenham last year at the height of the financial crisis they helped bring about. [LNB]No doubt next season the bank will be back to the 500 guests they used to bring to the corporate trough.[LNB] Nike will be kicking themselves for producing for general sale a limited edition of only 1,000 replica rugby shirts of the one-off retro kit worn by England on Saturday to mark Twickenham's centenary. [LNB] Getting shirty: Lots of England's limited edition retro Nike kit are fetching high sums on Ebay[LNB]The shirts, which for a change had discreet branding on the sleeves and were priced at £49.99, sold out in three days. They are now doing roaring business on eBay, with bids of up to £255 and rising.[LNB] More from Charles Sale... CHARLES SALE: Protesters hunt down TV historian in bid to stop 2012 Olympics equestrian at Greenwich Park 05/02/10 Charles Sale: Shamed England skipper Terry is expected to keep his kit on04/02/10 Charles Sale: Fabio Capello's untimely night on Pall Mall03/02/10 Charles Sale: China set to exploit BOA's Surrey state during London 2012 Olympics02/02/10 CHARLES SALE: John Terry lawyer now in Wayne Bridge's team 01/02/10 CHARLES SALE: Gary Lineker kicks BBC golf duties in to touch29/01/10 CHARLES SALE: Given fights agent over £6m Manchester City fee from Newcastle28/01/10 Charles Sale: Alpine retreat is Fabio Capello's first resort27/01/10 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE [LNB] Explore more:People:Rio Ferdinand, David Sullivan, Robbie Savage, Fabio Capello, David Beckham, Graham Taylor, John Terry, David GoldPlaces:Edinburgh, London, Wales, Scotland, United Kingdom, France
