http://www.cooperativeresearch.org The Center for Grassroots Oversight aims to provide the public with a means to collaborate on investigations at the grassroots level. en-us http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a031012DempseyManning#a031012DempseyManning http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a031012DempseyManning#a031012DempseyManning General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that Bradley Manning, the alleged leaker of a large number of documents published by WikiLeaks, violated the law. Dempsey makes the remarks at a members' town hall meeting at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, in response to a question about whether Manning should be viewed as a political prisoner, whistleblower, or traitor. "We're a nation of laws," says Dempsey. "He did violate the law." Manning is awaiting court martial, but has not yet been found guilty. President Barack Obama made similar remarks the previous year . KJF 2012-03-30T09:24:30+02:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a042211ObamaManningBrokeLaw#a042211ObamaManningBrokeLaw http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a042211ObamaManningBrokeLaw#a042211ObamaManningBrokeLaw President Obama says alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning "broke the law." The remarks are made at a California fundraiser after Obama is interrupted by a group of protesters, who sing a song pleading for Manning's release. Manning is currently in jail, but has not been found guilty. "I have to abide by certain classified information," says Obama. "If I was to release stuff, information that I'm not authorized to release, I'm breaking the law. ... We're a nation of laws. We don't individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate. ... He broke the law." Steven Aftergood, a classified information expert at the Federation of American Scientists, will criticize Obama's statement. "The comment was not appropriate because it assumes that Manning is guilty," says Aftergood. "The president got carried away and misspoke. No one should mistake a charge for a conviction--especially the nation's highest official." President of the National Institute of Military Justice and military law expert Eugene Fidell adds, "Commenting on Manning's conditions of confinement is one thing--I would have strongly advised him to not comment about Manning's guilt." However, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor will say that Obama was in fact making a general statement that did not go specifically to the charges against Manning. "The president was emphasizing that, in general, the unauthorized release of classified information is not a lawful act," he will say. "He was not expressing a view as to the guilt or innocence of Pfc. Manning specifically." In addition, Aftergood and Fidell will agree that Obama's remarks will probably not affect whether Manning receives a fair trial. "It's not that hard to ensure that unlawful command influence hasn't in fact prejudiced the right to a fair trial," says Fidell. "If the case goes to a court marshal, the military court will have to make sure that none of the members of the military jury have been influenced by the president's stated belief that Manning broke the law." The remarks will be echoed by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey the next year . KJF 2012-03-30T09:23:19+02:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a020812ChelseaLossAgain#a020812ChelseaLossAgain http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a020812ChelseaLossAgain#a020812ChelseaLossAgain Chelsea announce a loss of £67.7m for the 2010-2011 season, slightly less than the previous one . There was a modest increase in revenues to £222.3m from £205.8m, thanks to Champions League and television income. Wages were down by £4.4m on last year and operating expenses down by £7m. The accounts contain an extraordinary item of £28m relating to the replacement of manager Carlo Ancelotti with André Villas-Boas in the summer. This means that Chelsea's manager replacement costs have been around £64m in the last four years. In addition, the accounts reveal Chelsea paid £6.4m to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to settle claims arising from a failed tax avoidance scheme that involved paying players not salary, but compensation for use of their image rights. The size and repeated nature of the loss means that Chelsea may have difficulty complying with UEFA's financial fair play regulations, although the consequences of this are unclear. KJF 2012-02-23T21:11:38+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0311ImageRightsTaxSettlement#a0311ImageRightsTaxSettlement http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0311ImageRightsTaxSettlement#a0311ImageRightsTaxSettlement HM Revenue and Customs comes to an agreement with Premier League clubs that they will pay it £100m for overusing image rights clauses in players' contracts. In addition to salary for paying football, clubs have increasingly been paying players compensation for use of their image rights, which is taxed at a lower rate. However, Revenue and Customs now successfully argues that a portion of the image rights payments were disguised salary, and the clubs pay around £100m to avoid legal proceedings. The exact date of the agreement is unknown, although the agreement is reported as being imminent in February 2011 and to have been signed by 2012. The exact amounts paid by all clubs are unknown. However, Chelsea will later reveal their portion of the bill is £6.4m. KJF 2012-02-23T21:10:05+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a051202BeckhamNewContract#a051202BeckhamNewContract http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a051202BeckhamNewContract#a051202BeckhamNewContract After months of negotiations, David Beckham signs a new three-year contract with Manchester United. Beckham is to receive £70,000 a week in basic pay and £20,000 for use of his image rights, representing a 300 percent salary increase. It is the image rights issue that caused the negotiations to go on for so long. "The process of every player contract negotiation is different," says United chief executive Peter Kenyon, "and one of the unique aspects of David's was understanding how his global image could best be utilized to the mutual benefit of Manchester United and David himself." Clubs and players are keen to agree that a portion of compensation be paid for image rights, because it is taxed at a lower rate. The new contract should take Beckham's total earnings to around £11m a year. Although Beckham's deal is not the highest in world football, Beckham receives so much from endorsements that he may overtake French midfielder Zinedine Zidane as football's top earner. KJF 2012-02-23T21:09:40+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0400SportsClubTaxCase#a0400SportsClubTaxCase http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0400SportsClubTaxCase#a0400SportsClubTaxCase The Inland Revenue loses a test case against Arsenal and two of its players, Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt, over the use of image rights provisions in playing contracts to avoid tax. Bergkamp and Platt receive a portion of the money Arsenal pays them not as salary, but as compensation for the use of their image rights. The Inland Revenue claims to the Tax Special Commissioners hearing the case that this is a "smokescreen" for paying them money offshore to avoid tax, and that Arsenal, Platt, and Bergkamp should be subjected to income tax and national insurance contributions via Arsenal's payroll. However, the commissioners decide that the payments are legitimately made in return for allowing Arsenal to exploit the players' images, a purpose different to playing football. The making of payments to footballers for image rights will grow in future years, although the British tax authorities will win a settlement for the scheme's over-use in 2011 . KJF 2012-02-23T21:09:15+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a071095ArsenalSignDavidPlatt#a071095ArsenalSignDavidPlatt http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a071095ArsenalSignDavidPlatt#a071095ArsenalSignDavidPlatt Arsenal pays £4.75m to sign veteran England international David Platt from the Italian club Sampdoria. Platt's contract is reportedly the second for a British footballer to include a provision that part of the money Arsenal pays him is for image rights. This money is paid into an account in an offshore tax haven and taxed at a lower rate than the salary for playing football. Dennis Bergkamp, also signed by Arsenal around this time , has a similar provision in his contract. The Inland Revenue will challenge the image rights payments, but will be unsuccesful . However, it will later win a significant settlement from British football clubs . KJF 2012-02-23T21:08:55+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a062095ArsenalSignBergkamp#a062095ArsenalSignBergkamp http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a062095ArsenalSignBergkamp#a062095ArsenalSignBergkamp Arsenal pays £7.5m to sign Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp from Internazionale. The fee is three times the club's previous record and the move ends Bergkamp's unhappy time in Italy, where he scored just 11 goals in 54 Serie A games. Bergkamp is reportedly to be paid £25,000 a week, making him the highest paid player in Britain. Bergkamp's contract is apparently the first for a British footballer to include a provision that part of the money Arsenal pays him is for image rights. This money is paid into an account in an offshore tax haven and taxed at a lower rate than the salary for playing football. David Platt, also signed by Arsenal around this time , has a similar provision in his contract. The Inland Revenue will challenge the image rights payments, but will be unsuccesful . However, it will later win a significant settlement from British football clubs . KJF 2012-02-23T21:08:21+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a022609FIFAReport6+5#a022609FIFAReport6+5 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a022609FIFAReport6+5#a022609FIFAReport6+5 A report ordered by FIFA from the Institute for European Affairs (INEA) is published stating that FIFA's "6+5" rule to limit the number of foreigners fielded by football clubs is not illegal under Europan Union law, despite repeated European Union statements to the contrary (see and ). "There is no conflict with European law," INEA chairman Professor Jurgen Gramke tells a press conference. "The 6+5 rule does not impinge on the core area of the right to freedom of movement. The rule is merely a rule of the game declared in the general interest of sport in order to improve the sporting balance between clubs and associations." The report says that, at worst, the 6+5 rule could constitute "indirect discrimination" because "it is not directly based on the nationality of professional players." KJF 2012-02-15T14:09:14+01:00 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a053008CongressFIFA6+5#a053008CongressFIFA6+5 http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a053008CongressFIFA6+5#a053008CongressFIFA6+5 FIFA's 58th Congress votes 155-5 to support the organization's "6+5" proposal to limit the number of foreigners appearing for football clubs. In addition to supporting the proposal's aims, the congress asks the presidents of FIFA and UEFA to continue to try to find ways of implementing the rule in Europe. A number of speakers at the congress also express support, although UEFA president Michel Platini points out that "6+5 is considered illegal within the European Union." At this time the proposal is planned to be phased in, meaning a maximum of seven foreigners in club teams' starting lineups in 2010-2011, six the next season, and five the season after that. KJF 2012-02-15T14:07:24+01:00