Liverpool pay City £1 million in "spy" settlement for hacking - biggest PL scandal

[Tim of the Oak]

Interesting how they say that Coutinho and Sturridge were recommended by the ex-City scouts. We already knew about Sturridge but Coutinho is a great find. Wouldn't City have policies in place that would prohibit former employees from leaking such confidential information (assuming that they got the players' information from City's database)? Then again, seeing that Barca were accusing our Spanish duo of doing the exact same thing, I would think not..

Not forgetting Giggs SPOTY for services to families.
Anyway, I would really be surprised if its found to be a club that's not United or Liverpool..

United did not do this. doesnt matter how much you hate them we all must admit they still possess some morality and character.

Does Selling mancky meat to schools count as Morality & Character in your mind? Or kicking out crash familys from club housing... to save a few bob... making an industry out of an air crash ?... which one has the more Morality & Character to you

 

[Plaything of the gods]

Has to be Utd or Chelsea. No other clubs in the premiership would be looking at players of the same calibre/price as us and therefore would have no need to 'know' what we were doing.

Very naughty if true.

They are maybe the obvious choices to some, but they spend enough on their own scouting to not have to rely on stealing from us.

Maybe something to think about is the fact that we're looking at youth players who are for the future, and who can be got for relatively little expenditure. They wouldn't fit into our first team, but they would in any other outside the top 3 or 4.

Therefore why not hack City's system and pick up a great young talent for maybe £5-10m, fit them into your system then once they have a good season you can get upwards of £20-25m for them? It's not a big gamble, and you would be certain that the scouting system you've hacked will be thorough.

So my suspects (if it's true) would be a Villa or Everton (please, please let it be them!), or Liverpool (probably not), West Ham, Newcastle etc, etc.

This illustrates perfectly the difference between those who have read the newspaper article and thought about its implications. And those that have not.

 

[Stoned Rose]

Has to be Utd or Chelsea. No other clubs in the premiership would be looking at players of the same calibre/price as us and therefore would have no need to 'know' what we were doing.

Very naughty if true.

They are maybe the obvious choices to some, but they spend enough on their own scouting to not have to rely on stealing from us.

Maybe something to think about is the fact that we're looking at youth players who are for the future, and who can be got for relatively little expenditure. They wouldn't fit into our first team, but they would in any other outside the top 3 or 4.

Therefore why not hack City's system and pick up a great young talent for maybe £5-10m, fit them into your system then once they have a good season you can get upwards of £20-25m for them? It's not a big gamble, and you would be certain that the scouting system you've hacked will be thorough.

So my suspects (if it's true) would be a Villa or Everton (please, please let it be them!), or Liverpool (probably not), West Ham, Newcastle etc, etc.

This illustrates perfectly the difference between those who have read the newspaper article and thought about its implications. And those that have not.

Who has and who hasn't?

 

[Plaything of the gods]

Here you are, for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

Man City fear secret scouting database could have been HACKED by employee of Premier League rival
15 Jun 2013 23:03

Etihad Stadium officials are thought to have brought in espionage experts to investigate the security breach of their online performance analysis system

In the murky world of big ­business, corporate espionage has always been a weapon used by the unscrupulous to make sure they stay ahead of rivals, writes Steve Bates of the Sunday People .

But Manchester City’s shocking ­discovery that their worldwide scouting database could have been hacked by an employee of a rival Premier League club will rock football to its core.

With new boss Manuel Pellegrini set to take charge , City believe their online Scout7 performance analysis system – ­holding detailed scouting reports of every player they have targeted at home and around the globe – has been infiltrated.

An investigation is now under way to uncover the full ­extent of the ­security breach at the Etihad Stadium , how it happened – and who the culprits are.

I understand City have brought in computer espionage experts to examine any ­possible trails.

And with player values rocketing globally, slick scouting operations are seen as vital to the on and off-pitch ­success of clubs who have placed a major importance on scouting and player recruitment.

Like City, many leading clubs at home and abroad use the acclaimed Scout7, described as offering “industry leading professional football solutions”.

Scout7’s website says their systems serve as many as “75 per cent of English Premier league clubs and more than 50 per cent of clubs in the top leagues of France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain”.

They also say: “Our Next Generation systems continue to deliver short, ­medium and long-term solutions for player scouting, recruitment and ­information management which ­provides an intelligent framework for a successful blend of subjective scouting assessment, objective data and video analysis.”

Although there is no suggestion the Scout7 operating system is in any way at fault, it is believed confidential ­professional and personal details of all City’s potential transfer targets may have been accessed by individuals ­working for a rival club.

That could have compromised ­possible deals and, at the very least, will have alerted others to players – both young and already established – that are on City’s scouting radar.

Although City were unwilling to ­comment until their investigations are complete, a Premier League chief scout told Sunday People Sport last night: “The scouting industry as a whole is a fairly small one.

“That means of course that clubs do sometimes know which players are being checked out and by which clubs.

“Football is now big business and the sums that change hands for players are getting bigger. So if you were to have concrete information on which players one of your rivals is looking at you could, theoretically, register your own interest in those players, too.

“When it comes to compiling reports on players there is a whole different level of information that goes into a dossier on a player and many clubs around Europe use the same system.

“It can range from the obvious about their technical and football ability but also to more sensitive detail about ­financial aspects of any possible deal or personal information about the background and character of a player.

“Having someone else – especially a rival – access that information and see which players you are looking at, which players you may buy and which ones are being monitored over a defined period would be seen as catastrophic.”

That is City’s view – and it is why the investigation is taking a high priority, with Pellegrini due for more talks with ­Begiristain and Soriano over more ­transfer business when he arrives in Manchester on June 24 to officially take charge.

And with player values rocketing globally, slick scouting operations are seen as vital to the on and off-pitch ­success of clubs who have placed a major importance on scouting and player recruitment.

Like City, many leading clubs at home and abroad use the acclaimed Scout7, described as offering “industry leading professional football solutions”.

Scout7’s website says their systems serve as many as “75 per cent of English Premier league clubs and more than 50 per cent of clubs in the top leagues of France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain”.

They also say: “Our Next Generation systems continue to deliver short, ­medium and long-term solutions for player scouting, recruitment and ­information management which ­provides an intelligent framework for a successful blend of subjective scouting assessment, objective data and video analysis.”

Although there is no suggestion the Scout7 operating system is in any way at fault, it is believed confidential ­professional and personal details of all City’s potential transfer targets may have been accessed by individuals ­working for a rival club.

That could have compromised ­possible deals and, at the very least, will have alerted others to players – both young and already established – that are on City’s scouting radar.

Although City were unwilling to ­comment until their investigations are complete, a Premier League chief scout told Sunday People Sport last night: “The scouting industry as a whole is a fairly small one.

“That means of course that clubs do sometimes know which players are being checked out and by which clubs.

“Football is now big business and the sums that change hands for players are getting bigger. So if you were to have concrete information on which players one of your rivals is looking at you could, theoretically, register your own interest in those players, too.

“When it comes to compiling reports on players there is a whole different level of information that goes into a dossier on a player and many clubs around Europe use the same system.

“It can range from the obvious about their technical and football ability but also to more sensitive detail about ­financial aspects of any possible deal or personal information about the background and character of a player.

“Having someone else – especially a rival – access that information and see which players you are looking at, which players you may buy and which ones are being monitored over a defined period would be seen as catastrophic.”

That is City’s view – and it is why the investigation is taking a high priority, with Pellegrini due for more talks with ­Begiristain and Soriano over more ­transfer business when he arrives in Manchester on June 24 to officially take charge.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-city-fear-secret-scouting-1955505

In recent news...

Manchester City latest: Swedish striker signed and Cavani may follow

Manchester City have secured the services of a played dubbed the ‘next Ibrahimovic’. Swedish teenager Zacharias Faour has been signed from Malmo for an initial fee of £400,000, with the potential to rise to over £1million.

The 15-year-old has reportedly been on the radars of some of Europe’s top clubs, and having shone for Malmo’s youth team City have moved quickly for his signature.

At such a young age, it will be some time before Faour is seen in the first-team. But if he is as good as he is being hailed, the Blues may have just signed a future superstar.

http://hereisthecity.com/2013/06/10/vr-manchester-city-latest-swedish-striker-signed-and-cavani-may/

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

So if the club find out who it is what happens??
Legal action i take it?

 

[without a dream]

So if the club find out who it is what happens??
Legal action i take it?

It's industrial espionage so yes. There should be some fairly heavy sanctions from the FA/UEFA too, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

 

[Plaything of the gods]

So if the club find out who it is what happens??
Legal action i take it?

It's industrial espionage so yes. There should be some fairly heavy sanctions from the FA/UEFA too, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

Theft of intellectual property for starters. If a club has been complicit by acting on the stolen information then that would be a further crime akin to receiving.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

The article says an employee of a Premiership club. So when found out the club will have some fall guy ready. The Club will then escape any charge as they say the individual acted alone.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Calls for a post-mortem on Wimblydon !

 

[stony]

The article says an employee of a Premiership club. So when found out the club will have some fall guy ready. The Club will then escape any charge as they say the individual acted alone.

Correct, they will already have a fall guy lined up. It will still tarnish their reputation though.

My dream scenario would be if it was the rags, and the info they got was how much we'd pay for RVP and they used that info to get him. It's widely accepted by pundits and football journos that RVP was the difference in the title race last season. Can you imagine the shit storm that would follow if that was the case. I'm only dreaming though, I don't think it's them.