The takeover of Ligue 1 side Nice by Britain's wealthiest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be confirmed on Tuesday, sources have told ESPN FC.
The outgoing owners Chien Lee, Alex Zheng, Paul Conway and Elliot Hayes, who bought Nice in 2016 for €23 million, agreed to sell it to the boss of the chemical giant Ineos for €100m nine days ago.
Three years after their takeover, the Chinese and American businessmen, who also own part of Barnsley in England's second tier, will make a huge profit. There are now three final steps for the sale to be effective.
First, all the paperwork will be signed and become official on Tuesday morning during the club's central management meeting at the stadium. Then Ratcliffe and his team will face the DNCG, the French financial fair play, to present their project, their business model and declare how much money they will invest in the club.
Finally, they will face an interview with the Competition Authority council. The whole process will take between four-to-six weeks and only after that will Ratcliffe, 66, officially be the Nice owner.
Ratcliffe is worth around €21 billion after founding Ineos and lives in Monaco. Nice manager Patrick Vieira, who took the team to seventh place in Ligue 1 in his first year at the club last season, has been informed his job is safe and he will remain in charge, sources have told ESPN FC.
The new owner has also promised to invest heavily in the club. He wants Nice to be in the Champions League in the next three years and hopes to compete with Paris Saint-Germain for the Ligue 1 title.
In November 2017, Ratcliffe bought Lausanne Sport, the Swiss football club and also owns Ineos, the cycling team which compete in the Tour de France.
He is partnering with Ben Ainslie to form Ineos Team UK, which will compete for the America's Cup in 2021. Ratcliffe is reportedly investing over £110m in the project.
The leak could cause serious diplomatic damage between the two "special relationship" allies.
While foreign envoys of all nations are often candid in classified dispatches back home, there are periodic episodes when such assessments leak, causing great political embarrassment. Months of efforts by the ambassador, Kim Darroch and his diplomats to build ties and trust with Trump and his political acolytes will be undermined.
The cables were leaked to and first published by the Daily Mail.
Darroch used secret cables and briefing notes to warn the UK government that Trump's "career could end in disgrace," and described conflicts within the White House as "knife fights," according to the Daily Mail.
A UK government source told CNN the memos described in the Daily Mail story are genuine.
The Daily Mail says the memos span the period between 2017 to present day, covering everything from Trump's foreign policy to his 2020 reelection plans.
In one memo dated June 22, according to the Daily Mail, Darroch questioned Trump's claim that he pulled back from retaliating against Iran last month after the downing of a US drone because the President was told at the last minute that US air strikes could kill 150 Iranians.
He also said in a cable to the Foreign Commonwealth Office that while he believed Trump can't afford to lose much support, he thinks there's still a "credible path" for his reelection.
The White House told CNN it had no comment on the story.
The leaked cables come at a sensitive time in UK politics with Conservative Party members currently electing a new prime minister to succeed Theresa May, who was effectively toppled by her own members of Parliament for failing to deliver on her country's 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
"The British public would expect our Ambassadors to provide Ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country. Their views are not necessarily the views of Ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid. Just as the US Ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities," a statement from the British FCO said.
"Of course we would expect such advice to be handled by Ministers and civil servants in the right way and it's important that our Ambassadors can offer their advice and for it remain confidential. Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt that these will withstand such mischievous behaviour," the statement continued.
The favorite for the job, Boris Johnson, is seen as likely to seek to forge a much closer relationship to Trump than May, who made strenuous efforts to court the President and developed a respectful relationship but never really bonded with him politically. If it leaves the EU, Britain will be seeking to seal a bilateral trade deal with the US and Trump is expected to drive a hard bargain. So there will be speculation that the leak of Darroch's memos was a politically motivated act by someone in London to clear space in Washington for an outspokenly pro-Brexit ambassador.
Darroch also used to work as national security adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron and as a top UK representative to the EU, so although he's a career diplomat, he is not seen as philosophically aligned with the crowd of hardcore Brexiteers expected to take over 10 Downing Street.
Johnson is unpredictable, politically incorrect, a populist and deeply critical of the EU and is often accused of blurring facts -- traits which he shares with Trump.
There is so far no reaction from the President's Twitter feed.
But Trump has never felt constrained from criticizing the British government.
Several times, he has embarrassed May after criticizing her handling of Brexit negotiations. He plunged into Britain's internal affairs in June by openly rooting for various Conservative candidates in the leadership elections. And he has waged a long-running feud with London's mayor Sadiq Khan.
Trump also raised some eyebrows in the UK by repeatedly praising Nigel Farage, one of the most prominent campaigners for Brexit.
Farage rushed to Trump's defense on Sunday, tweeting: "Kim Darroch is totally unsuitable for the job and the sooner he is gone the better."
Darroch had been riding high on the success of Trump's trip to the UK in June which largely went off without a hitch. His position with the Trump administration however now looks difficult at best. Though his memos are deeply sensitive given the source, the unflattering depiction of the Trump White House is one that will be recognizable to readers of US media outlets.
This story has been updated with additional developments and context.
The leak could cause serious diplomatic damage between the two "special relationship" allies.
While foreign envoys of all nations are often candid in classified dispatches back home, there are periodic episodes when such assessments leak, causing great political embarrassment. Months of efforts by the ambassador, Kim Darroch and his diplomats to build ties and trust with Trump and his political acolytes will be undermined.
The cables were leaked to and first published by the Daily Mail.
Darroch used secret cables and briefing notes to warn the UK government that Trump's "career could end in disgrace," and described conflicts within the White House as "knife fights," according to the Daily Mail.
A UK government source told CNN the memos described in the Daily Mail story are genuine.
The Daily Mail says the memos span the period between 2017 to present day, covering everything from Trump's foreign policy to his 2020 reelection plans.
In one memo dated June 22, according to the Daily Mail, Darroch questioned Trump's claim that he pulled back from retaliating against Iran last month after the downing of a US drone because the President was told at the last minute that US air strikes could kill 150 Iranians.
He also said in a cable to the Foreign Commonwealth Office that while he believed Trump can't afford to lose much support, he thinks there's still a "credible path" for his reelection.
The White House told CNN it had no comment on the story.
The leaked cables come at a sensitive time in UK politics with Conservative Party members currently electing a new prime minister to succeed Theresa May, who was effectively toppled by her own members of Parliament for failing to deliver on her country's 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
"The British public would expect our Ambassadors to provide Ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country. Their views are not necessarily the views of Ministers or indeed the government. But we pay them to be candid. Just as the US Ambassador here will send back his reading of Westminster politics and personalities," a statement from the British FCO said.
"Of course we would expect such advice to be handled by Ministers and civil servants in the right way and it's important that our Ambassadors can offer their advice and for it remain confidential. Our team in Washington have strong relations with the White House and no doubt that these will withstand such mischievous behaviour," the statement continued.
The favorite for the job, Boris Johnson, is seen as likely to seek to forge a much closer relationship to Trump than May, who made strenuous efforts to court the President and developed a respectful relationship but never really bonded with him politically. If it leaves the EU, Britain will be seeking to seal a bilateral trade deal with the US and Trump is expected to drive a hard bargain. So there will be speculation that the leak of Darroch's memos was a politically motivated act by someone in London to clear space in Washington for an outspokenly pro-Brexit ambassador.
Darroch also used to work as national security adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron and as a top UK representative to the EU, so although he's a career diplomat, he is not seen as philosophically aligned with the crowd of hardcore Brexiteers expected to take over 10 Downing Street.
Johnson is unpredictable, politically incorrect, a populist and deeply critical of the EU and is often accused of blurring facts -- traits which he shares with Trump.
There is so far no reaction from the President's Twitter feed.
But Trump has never felt constrained from criticizing the British government.
Several times, he has embarrassed May after criticizing her handling of Brexit negotiations. He plunged into Britain's internal affairs in June by openly rooting for various Conservative candidates in the leadership elections. And he has waged a long-running feud with London's mayor Sadiq Khan.
Darroch had been riding high on the success of Trump's trip to the UK in June which largely went off without a hitch. His position with the Trump administration however now looks difficult at best. Though his memos are deeply sensitive given the source, the unflattering depiction of the Trump White House is one that will be recognizable to readers of US media outlets.
This story has been updated with additional developments and context.
LONDON — Boris Johnson, the front-runner to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister, has said he would require immigrants to Britain to learn English, echoing remarks made by Nigel Farage, the former leader of the populist U.K. Independence Party.
“I want everybody who comes here and makes their lives here to be and to feel British, that is the most important thing. And to learn English,” Mr. Johnson said on Friday at a gathering of Conservative association members, who are voting in a contest between Mr. Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary.
“Too often there are parts of our country, parts of London still and other cities as well, where English is not spoken by some people as their first language,” Mr. Johnson said. “And that needs to be changed.”
Boris Johnson is the front-runner to be the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister. The former foreign secretary is a hard-line supporter of Brexit.CreditCreditLeon Neal/Getty Images
Mr. Johnson’s remarks were greeted with anger by lawmakers from Scotland and Wales, who represent areas where voters speak Gaelic and Welsh.
A legislator from the Scottish National Party, Angus MacNeil, derided Mr. Johnson as “moronic and clueless,” and compared his remarks to “arrogance of centuries past” that put down “native Celtic languages for the Germanic import.”
Mr. Johnson’s pledge underscored his alignment with Mr. Farage, who in 2014 complained of hearing too many foreign languages while riding on a train. “Does that make me feel slightly awkward? Yes it does,” Mr. Farage said then. “I don’t feel very comfortable in that situation, and I don’t think the majority of British people do.”
Mr. Farage, who declared himself retired from politics after the 2016 Brexit referendum but has since founded a new populist party that made a strong showing at the elections for the European Parliament in May, has been one of the loudest voices pushing for Britain’s exit from the European Union, set for October.
Mr. Johnson, also a hard-liner on Brexit, seems poised for a landslide victory when roughly 160,000 Conservative Party members vote for a new party leader, and by default, the next prime minister. He has the support of 74 percent of party voters, compared to the more than 26 percent backing Mr. Hunt, according to a poll by YouGov for The Times of London. Ballots are being sent by mail to the members, who must return them in time for the end of voting on July 22.
The voting, already heavily criticized for being open only to 0.3 percent of British voters, faced fresh attacks on Saturday when it emerged that more than 1,000 Conservative Party members had received duplicate ballots. Even the chairman of Mr. Hunt’s campaign told the BBC that he received two ballot papers. The British broadcaster, which revealed the duplicate mailings, said the party had been unable to determine precisely how many extra ballots it sent out.
Image
Nigel Farage, center, has been one of the loudest voices pushing for Britain’s exit from the European Union.CreditHannah Mckay/Reuters
If the contest is close, that error could add to questions about the legitimacy of the next prime minister. The ballots tell members that “it is an offense to vote more than once,” threatening their membership if they do. But the rudimentary process — members submit paper ballots in the mail — makes it difficult to police.
In some cases, members received two ballots because they live and work in different constituencies or have changed their name after marriage. General elections in Britain make it illegal to vote twice and are overseen by an independent Electoral Commission, but this is not the case for the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, which is governed by internal party rules.
Party leaders warned that anyone voting more than once would be expelled.
Mr. Johnson has tacked to the right during the contest, reflecting the right-wing views of the Tory grass-roots members, who are — compared to the electorate as a whole — older, more likely to be white and male, and concentrated in the prosperous south of the country.
On Friday, he said he was proud of what have been called his “gaffes,” which include offensive and racist language: He once wrote that Queen Elizabeth II had become fond of the Commonwealth because she enjoyed being greeted by “cheering crowds of flag-waving pickaninnies.”
Very often, he said, “When people say you are making a gaffe, what you are really doing is saying some that is true and necessary.” Asked at a campaign event whether he had ever made any sacrifices in the public interest, Mr. Johnson seemed to flounder.
“I won’t be able, for instance, to rapidly complete a book on Shakespeare that I have in preparation,” he said, “and that means that unjustly neglected author will no longer get the treatment he deserves.”
The UK is going through a "political nervous breakdown", a former intelligence chief has told the BBC.
Sir John Sawers said the UK could have a prime minister who does "not have the standing that we have become used to in our top leadership" - a criticism of the two Tory leadership contenders.
The former MI6 boss was also critical of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Boris Johnson ally Iain Duncan Smith countered Sir John's remarks, saying "democracy may well frighten him".
Speaking on the Today programme, he said: "We are going through a political nervous breakdown here in the UK.
"We have potential prime ministers being elected by the Conservative Party now, [and] in the shape of the leader of the opposition, who do not have the standing that we have become used to in our top leadership.
"Whether people can develop that when they become prime minister, we will have to wait and see, in terms of the candidates for the Conservative leadership."
It is understood there were concerns about Mr Johnson's ability to keep information confidential.
The Tory leadership frontrunner said the reports were "not true".
UK 'badly divided'
In the surprisingly frank exchange, Sir John said there were concerns in Whitehall about the direction the country is heading.
"I think there is a lot of anxiety as we leave the European Union, we take a huge risk to our international standing, to the strength of the British economy."
He said former prime minister David Cameron was "unwise" to call the EU referendum in 2016, adding that it had left the country "badly divided" and the UK's standing in the world "severely diminished".
Sir John's comments won't affect leadership race
By Peter Saull, political reporter
Sir John Sawers' views on Brexit are well-known. He's warned in the past that leaving the EU would make the UK less safe.
His intervention will have little impact on the outcome of the Conservative leadership race. Most Tory members are pro-Brexit and many will likely dismiss his opinions as more 'project fear'.
Both leadership contenders say they'd be prepared to take the UK out of the EU, deal or no deal, on Halloween.
However if the views of the former head of MI6 are reflected in the upper echelons of the current civil service, it suggests the new prime minister won't just face resistance in Parliament, but in Whitehall too.
As well as the two would-be Tory leaders, Sir John questioned whether Jeremy Corbyn is of sufficient standing to become PM.
The Labour leader's had his own recent run-in with the civil service, after officials reportedly questioned his health and fitness to lead the country.
No matter who's in power, it seems relations between politicians and civil servants are becoming increasingly strained.
"It is not surprising that the people who have devoted themselves to serving the interests of this country are concerned about the direction in which the country is going."
Members of a gang behind the biggest modern-day slavery network ever exposed in the UK have been jailed.
Police believe more than 400 victims were put to work in the West Midlands by the organised crime gang.
They tricked vulnerable people from Poland into England with the promise of work and a better life.
But their victims were made to live in rat-infested houses and work menial jobs, it can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted.
Eight offenders, who police say are members and associates of two Polish crime families, have been jailed after being convicted in two separate trials of crimes including trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Their sentences range from three to 11 years.
The network collapsed when two victims fled their captors in 2015 and told slavery charity Hope for Justice of their ordeal.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
The group of five men and three women targeted the most desperate from their homeland, including the homeless, ex-prisoners and alcoholics.
They were transported to the UK by bus, but when they arrived they were housed in squalid homes around West Bromwich, Smethwick and Walsall, forced to sleep up to four in a room on filthy mattresses and had their wages "farmed" from bank accounts on payday.
One victim said he had to wash in a canal because he had no access to water.
The slaves were made to work long days at rubbish recycling centres, farms and turkey-gutting factories and given as little as £20 a week by their captors.
But they were marched to banks and made to open accounts the gang had complete control over.
The gang also claimed benefits in the names of some of their oblivious victims, who ranged in age from 17 to a man in his 60s.
One of the victims died while in captivity, and the gang removed all his personal belongings and identity documents so their plot could not be discovered.
It is estimated the gang made more than £2m between June 2012 and October 2017, which allowed them to lead a lavish lifestyle.
If any victims complained, gang enforcers would humiliate, threaten or beat them.
One victim was stripped naked in front of other workers, doused in surgical chemical iodine, and told that the gang would remove his kidneys if he did not keep quiet.
Judge Mary Stacey said it was clear slavery still continued in the UK "often hiding in plain sight".
The convictions and sentences in full
Marek Chowaniec, 30, of Walsall, and Marek Brzezinski, 50, of Tipton, West Midlands, were jailed for 11 and nine years respectively for trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Justyna Parczewska, 48, of West Bromwich, and Julianna Chodakowicz, 24, of Evesham, Worcestershire, were jailed for eight and seven years respectively for conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Natalia Zmuda, 29, of Walsall, got four years and six months for trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Ignacy Brzezinski, 52 of West Bromwich, Jan Sadowski, 26, also of West Bromwich and Wojciech Nowakowski, 41, of Winson Green, Birmingham, were all convicted of trafficking charges, conspiracy to require and control another person to perform forced labour, and conspiracy to acquire, use and possess criminal property.
Brzezinski - who remains on the run - was jailed in his absence for 11 years, Sadowski for three years and Nowakowski for six and a half years.
Police said Chowaniec was the "respectable face" of the gang, playing a convincing role in banks and employment agencies. Ignacy Brzezinski - who absconded during his trial while wearing an electronic tag - was in charge of the bank accounts and wages.
Marek Brzezinski travelled to Poland to recruit victims, while Parczewska - the wife of Ignacy Brzezinski - was described by police as having a "matriarchal role, welcoming new arrivals and making them cups of tea and food at her home but knowing full well what horrors lay ahead".
They even had an insider at a Worcester employment agency - Chodakowicz - who signed up dozens of the victims.
Nowakowski and Sadowski met the arrivals in the UK while Zmuda escorted them to job centre appointments and controlled bank accounts.
The judge at Birmingham Crown Court described their trafficking conspiracy as the "most ambitious, extensive and prolific" modern-day slavery network ever exposed in the UK.
Ch Insp Nick Dale, who led Operation Fort, said it had been a "really complex investigation" over four years.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
A total of 92 victims were identified but police believe at least 350 more were used by the gang and either could not be traced, had left the country or were too scared to give evidence.
"This was trafficking and exploitation on a massive scale; this gang treated these people, their fellow countrymen, as commodities purely for their own greed," Ch Insp Dale said.
"What they did was abhorrent: they subjected victims to a demi-life of misery and poverty. They forced them into work and, if they objected, they were beaten or threatened with violence and told family members back home would be attacked.
"Some were told they would be taken to the woods to dig their own graves. One man who had an accident at work was forced back to the factory and denied hospital treatment, leaving him with long-term damage to his arm."
Members of a gang behind the biggest modern-day slavery network ever exposed in the UK have been jailed.
Police believe more than 400 victims were put to work in the West Midlands by the organised crime gang.
They tricked vulnerable people from Poland into England with the promise of work and a better lifestyle.
But their victims were made to live in rat-infested houses and worked menial jobs, it can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted.
Eight offenders, who police say are members and associates of two Polish crime families, have been convicted of slavery, trafficking and money-laundering offences during two trials.
Five have been jailed, with sentences ranging from four years and six months to 11 years. Three more are set to be sentenced, including one who went on the run during his trial.
The network collapsed when two victims fled their captors in 2015 and told slavery charity Hope for Justice of their ordeal.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
The group of five men and three women targeted the most desperate from their homeland, including the homeless, ex-prisoners and alcoholics.
They were transported to the UK by bus, but when they arrived they were housed in squalid homes around West Bromwich, Smethwick and Walsall, forced to sleep up to four in a room on filthy mattresses and had their wages "farmed" from bank accounts on payday.
They were marched to banks and made to open accounts the gang had complete control over.
The slaves were made to work long days at rubbish recycling centres, farms and turkey-gutting factories and given as little as £20 a week by their captors.
The gang also claimed benefits in the names of some of their oblivious victims, who ranged in age from 17 to a man in his 60s.
One of the victims died while in captivity, and the gang removed all his personal belongings and identity documents so their plot could not be discovered.
It is estimated the gang made more than £2m between June 2012 and October 2017, which allowed them to lead a lavish lifestyle.
The convictions and sentences in full
Marek Chowaniec, 30, of Walsall, and Marek Brzezinski, 50, Tipton, jailed for 11 and nine years respectively for trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Justyna Parczewska, 48, West Bromwich, and Julianna Chodakowicz, 24, of Evesham, jailed for eight and seven years respectively for conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Natalia Zmuda, 29, of Walsall, four years and six months for trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour and money laundering.
Ignacy Brzezinski, 52 of West Bromwich, Jan Sadowski, 26, of West Bromwich and Wojciech Nowakowski, 41, of Winson Green, were all convicted of trafficking charges, conspiracy to require and control another person to perform forced labour, and conspiracy to acquire, use and possess criminal property. They will be sentenced later on Friday.
Police said Chowaniec was the "respectable face" of the gang, playing a convincing role in banks and employment agencies. Ignacy Brzezinski - who absconded during his trial while wearing an electronic tag - was in charge of the bank accounts and wages.
Marek Brzezinski travelled to Poland to recruit victims, while Parczewska - the wife of Ignacy Brzezinski - was described by police as having a "matriarchal role, welcoming new arrivals and making them cups of tea and food at her home but knowing full well what horrors lay ahead".
They even had an insider at a Worcester employment agency - Chodakowicz - who signed up dozens of the victims.
Nowakowski and Sadowski met the arrivals in the UK while Zmuda escorted them to job centre appointments and controlled bank accounts.
The trial judge at Birmingham Crown Court, Mary Stacey, described their trafficking conspiracy as the "most ambitious, extensive and prolific" modern-day slavery network ever exposed in the UK.
Ch Insp Nick Dale, who led Operation Fort, said it had been a "really complex investigation" over four years.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
A total of 92 victims were identified but there could have been more than 400, police believe.
"This was trafficking and exploitation on a massive scale; this gang treated these people, their fellow countrymen, as commodities purely for their own greed," Ch Insp Dale said.
"What they did was abhorrent: they subjected victims to a demi-life of misery and poverty. They forced them into work and, if they objected, they were beaten or threatened with violence and told family members back home would be attacked.
"Some were told they would be taken to the woods to dig their own graves. One man who had an accident at work was forced back to the factory and denied hospital treatment, leaving him with long-term damage to his arm."
