Sir Alex Ferguson will soon find himself facing the ordeal of a second legal dispute with John Magnier and JP McManus when Manchester United’s rebel shareholders inform the club they are investigating the possibility of a claim for defamation.
In their most aggressive move to date, legal representatives of Magnier and McManus are writing to United’s board to demand the tapes and written transcripts of Ferguson’s various interviews with newspaper, television and radio journalists at the club’s training ground at Carrington last Friday.
It follows Ferguson’s disclosure — repeated almost verbatim in every interview — that his son Jason had called in the police at the end of a ‘distressing” period in which ‘people have been stealing his mail and his bin-bags and hiding in bushes outside his house”. Magnier and McManus believe he may have been unjustly referring to them.
Ferguson, who is suing Magnier over the disputed rights to stud fees for the former racehorse Rock Of Gibraltar, now faces the possibility of his detractors lodging a high court claim for defamation.
From their winter retreat in the Caribbean, Magnier and McManus, who have admitted hiring private investigators to examine business activities at Old Trafford, have instructed solicitors working on behalf of their company Cubic Expression — the largest shareholder in United, with a 25,49% stake — to investigate whether there are grounds to make an official complaint.
Their legal team has collected a dossier of newspaper cuttings and may request recordings from Sky, the BBC and the club’s own subscription channel MUTV.
The threat of legal action will be made clear in a letter marked for the attention of United’s chairperson Sir Roy Gardner and the club’s chief executive David Gill. Maurice Watkins, the non-executive director who doubles as the club’s solicitor, will almost certainly have to get involved and the board of directors will need to ascertain from Ferguson exactly what he meant, before drafting a response.
Whether they can stave off another potentially damaging lawsuit may depend largely on what Ferguson has to say. The club’s hierarchy had been hoping Ferguson and Magnier were moving closer to an out-of-court settlement but events since the weekend have made it clear that, if anything, the two sides are more bitterly divided than ever.
By threatening a writ of their own, Magnier and McManus seem to be continuing a strategy aimed at undermining Ferguson.
The Irishmen are entitled to believe they have moved into a position of strength. In particular, they know they are making life difficult for the 62-year-old at a time when he is under intense pressure to withdraw his claim for joint ownership of Rock Of Gibraltar’s breeding rights or open talks for an out-of-court settlement that would see him drastically reduce his demands.
On Tuesday Ferguson’s legal team provided written documentation to Magnier detailing the reasons behind his claim, as demanded by the high court in Dublin.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are braced for a hostile reaction from Magnier and McManus, after submitting an official response to their exhaustive list of 99 questions about recent transfers and business dealings.
A seven-page document arrived at the Dublin offices of solicitors representing Magnier and McManus on Thursday and the Irish billionaires were considering its contents.
If the club’s response does not satisfy them, the Irishmen will pursue one of three options: calling for an emergency general meeting, demanding a seat on the United board or reporting their concerns to the Financial Services Authority. —