Source:REUTERS/Craig Brough
[Saba Sports News] According to British media reports, Manchester United legend Bryan Robson has set up a financial institution to help players avoid being scammed out of their money. The 69-year-old Robson himself was once defrauded of nearly £1 million through failed investment schemes. He was initially tricked into investing £250,000 in a “Whistler Hilton Hotel project” in Canada, which was never built. He later lost a further £550,000 to HM Revenue & Customs in a film investment scheme that was supposed to provide tax relief. Now Robson has joined forces with Simon Andrews, a former Manchester United player who later worked in financial consultancy, to target speculators in football. Together they have founded Xentum Sports, a firm that provides financial planning services to players and educates them on identifying the pitfalls of potential scams.
The editor believes that many footballers are highly ego-driven, which is largely linked to the image they seek to project as top players. As a result, they are extremely reluctant to go public when they realize they have been scammed out of money. They keep it to themselves rather than seeking help immediately, and then spiral into a downward cycle while trying to recover funds that are already irrecoverable.