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Saturday, September 27, 2008

QPR Statement - No Name Change Name Even Discussed

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QPR Official Site- CLUB STATEMENT
Following a report in one of today's national newspapers, titled 'QPC is definitely a move too far, Flavio,' QPR Holdings Ltd Chairman Flavio Briatore has issued the following statement:
"This is pure fabrication and I don't know where the story has come from. I haven't spoken to anybody about this subject.
"I don't know the journalist, but I know the story is totally untrue and we will be contacting our lawyers to pursue this matter further.
"I can categorically deny that there is any truth in this article."
The Club will be making no further comment. QPR


The Daily Mail Story which precipitated this response:

Daily Mail/Charles Sale - QPC is definitely a move too far, Flavio

The super-rich owners of London Championship team QPR have been discussing
changing the name of the club to Queens Park City in order to emphasis its location in the capital.
Renault boss Flavio Briatore, in Singapore preparing his Formula One team for the first night grand prix this weekend, has been openly debating the idea with friends in football and motor racing.
But Rangers fans, already not happy about the huge hike in prices at Loftus Road which has seen the introduction of the first £50 ticket in the Championship this season, won’t be impressed with losing a club name that has been in existence since 1887. The team was called St Jude’s for its first two years.
Nor will Briatore and his billionaire co-owners, Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal, whose combined wealth makes QPR currently the second richest club in the country behind Manchester City, find the Football League in agreement. Commercial motives for name changes are not approved in the lower divisions or the Premier League.
Briatore has also made public that the three owners, who easily have the resources to buy their way out of the Championship, would prefer to fine-tune their football vehicle outside the top flight and bide their time in reaching the top flight, especially in the current state of flux with club ownership. Daily Mail