A final blog from myself, before leaving all this behind. A few people have asked why I've stopped; stopped Twitter (more or less) and stopped blogging here.
Until now, the posts have been about daft stuff, nostalgia, the odd bits of campaigning, mostly around Hillsborough. Underneath all of that has been a fervent love for Forest, built over 50 years of adventures, good, bad, indifferent. It's that love which, perversely, is keeping me away for now. I can't watch what they've become any more than I could watch a loved one taking up the crack pipe. It doesn't end well. The grimmer end of the sex industry usually, by all accounts.
The Kaiyun sponsor thing is problematic for me. I've been called all sorts of treacherous scum for saying it. A snowflake, not a proper supporter, and let's face it, a cunt. And therein, of course, lies another reason to fall out of love and certainly to steer clear.
On top of Kaiyun, there is the signing of Gonzalo Montiel, accused of rape in a case which the Argentinian prosecutor says is ongoing. Just for clarity, Montiel has not been charged and denies all the allegations. The club say they have conducted due diligence, but it seems an odd signing that sends out a peculiar message, before you even add in that his debut must've been one of the very worst debuts ever made by a Forest player. I hope he turns out to be a great player and, of course, entirely innocent.
But it's the sponsorship deal that swung it for me.
So, by way of explanation, here's my issues with the sponsorship. I do not want to watch the club I have loved for all this time, have spent tens of thousands following around the world, have literally fought for, running round as an advertising hoarding for something so shady, in all likelihood connected to dark money. We were proud to wear the UNHCR Refugee Agency logo, but personally I feel ashamed of the current shirt. Which is a particular pity with it being otherwise a thing of great beauty.
Kaiyun. WIlliam Hill, they ain't. Or Ian Storey-Moore. So, who are they? No one knows. There is no website. A holding page says it will be "live very soon". It's said the same since they started to sponsor Villa's sleeves over a year back. There is no app. The only Kaiyun app on the Apple Store is to do with the weather. You can, reportedly, contact their customer service at one of those 'random string of character' addresses that you'd assume was spam if it contacted you.
The landing page is hosted by TGP Europe, a holding company based above a ropey looking bookie's shop on the Isle of Man. TGP hosts such sites for a number of 'brands', many familiar football sponsors of an 'Asian gambling' variety. They come and go. TGP are a white label manager for the Chinese market. They hold a license with the Gambling Commission to operate and advertise in the UK. The advertising is the thing. They can legally advertise brands for an activity - gambling - that is illegal in China. Of course, they're not promoting it so that those of us in the UK who like a flutter can use it. This is about illegal gambling in China.
TGP Europe were fined and censured by the Gambling Commission in April of this year for breaches of Social Responsibility Code 3.4.1. The fine of £316,250 was for lapses in social responsibility and anti-money laundering. More specifically, they had not got effective systems to protect vulnerable users and their failings included a lack of risk assessment for funding terrorism. Their due diligence re partnerships (eg with Kaiyun) was insufficient.
TGP Europe are mysterious. They appear to be part of a bigger group, thought to be connected to an illegal operation called Sun City, owner of which one Alvin Chau, has recently been sentenced to 18 years for running organised crime. Appear is key here. No one can really follow the trail. It's unclear who owns them. Investigative financial journalists, government agencies including the US Office of Drugs and Crime, all admit being baffled.
So, we don't know who owns TGP (either version), but who owns the brands, including Kaiyun? Yup, you guessed it...
We don't know. There is an apparent link to a company called YABO, who Man United, PSG and a host of others had some dealings with a while back. YABO - seemingly linked to SunCity and Alvin Chau - got into all sorts of trouble, disappeared totally and terminated all of their brands. Terminated? Well, they mostly popped back up as brand names of another company, BOE United Technology, who make semi-conductors and electronic screens. One of those brands? Kaiyun, who claim to be registered in the British Virgin Islands, though the records in the BVI report that as a false claim. No one knows who owns them. Which must've made Forest's due diligence an interesting process. The guy who usually pops up to do launches and press shots for many of these ghost companies is actually a male model, not the executive he is presented as. The Marketing Director , Byrne Howard, named in Forest's press release is also a difficult figure to pin down. No online footprint whatsoever. The owner is officially 'Unknown'.
There are investigative pieces about all of this out there. The Norwegian site, Josimar, has a big feature on 'The Monster With a Thousand Faces' in which they try to establish all the links, largely around BOE. It's behind a pay wall but worth 99 cents of anyone's money to read: https://josimarfootball.com/2023/03/02/the-monster-with-a-thousand-faces/
The Mail - not that I'd recommend reading the rag regularly - has run a few pieces on the intrigue: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12462035/Nottingham-Forest-announce-controversial-shirt-sponsorship-deal-online-betting-firm-Kaiyun-Sports-despite-concerns-club-quoted-Kaiyun-chief-does-not-appear-exist.html
The best piece is a video from the Financial Times, the most incredible thing being that really even their team of experienced journalists admit they cannot follow the trail all the way to owners: https://www.ft.com/video/4bf67319-ce1e-4d13-a49d-120e12cc7d3d
It just doesn't sit right. For me, selling out the shirt and the club's proud history to be involved in this sort of murky shite, does not seem to be a price worth paying for survival in the Premier League. It casts a massive shadow over what we have achieved recently. It's so far removed from a football club being a part of the community, connected to its home, doing good. And I know all sorts of sponsors can have a dark side - believe me, I'm quite aware of the internal damage regular consumption of Shippos could do. But this is different gravy. Of course, not everyone has to agree and that's fine. I'll be doing no campaigning, No preaching. Just not going until it's sorted. Or until I miss seeing my mates - some of whom I've been doing home and away with since the 70s - so much, that it overcomes my reservations. That may be weeks, months or years. Whatever, not attending, not being part of it, I've lost the right to bang on about it on Twitter or here. It's for others now. Thanks to all who have read, commented and supported over the past few years. Over and out.
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