Shareholders strike out at Arsenal board

The Arsenal board have come under fire from shareholders in the wake of Robin van Persie’s decision not to extend his contract.

Major shareholders Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri are major shareholders in the club through their Red and White Securities investment company and have written a letter to the board after the announcement made by van Persie.

The letter read (and it's worth quoting at length): "It is down to our manager and not the shareholders to have to deal with the club's tight finances, carry the burden of repaying the stadium debt by selling his best players and having to continue to find cheaper replacements. All of that, naturally, comes at the expense of performance on the pitch. This policy is leading to the loss of our best players, often to our main competitors, and even causes the players themselves to question their future at the club and the club's ambitions.”

The duo own 30% of the club through their investment vehicle and cited in the letter past examples of Arsenal having to let their key players go and believe this is hampering their advancement.

The letter continued: "The situation with our captain and outstanding performer from last season, Robin van Persie, sums this up. Yet again we are faced with losing our true marquee player at the club because we cannot assure him of the future direction and give confidence that we can win trophies. Where are the safeguards to ensure that this doesn't happen again and again in the future? As a top club we should, at the very least, match if not beat the offers that other clubs make to try and lure our very best players away, and also provide a more compelling vision of the future.”

For more Football Blogs and opinion from football fans around the world