It's Raining in Flavio's Heart

Posted On 18/09/2009 at at 15:00 by Alistair Kleebauer  

QPR's wait for a home league win continues but fortunately for Jim Magilton, that is not the result of any points dropped against Crystal Palace. His side were not afforded the opportunity to seal a victory (or saved the shame of a defeat if you're a pessimist) against their London rivals because Tuesday night's game was postponed due to torrential rain in west London (never let it be said that this website isn't the first with breaking news). Said rain wasn't quite torrential enough to call off Chelsea's Champions League game against Porto just two miles away but then they do have a billionaire owner so... Sarcasm set aside, QPR's own posse of billionaire owners (and Flavio Briatore) may want to consider improvements to their pitch and general facilities before shelling out any more money on the much-criticized C Club (a private members section of QPR's hospitality which, along with the whole hospitality area, received a considerable revamp when Flavio took over).

The match will now be played on Tuesday November 3rd, just four days after the club's Friday night visit to Leicester City. Should the club progress any further in the Carling Cup over the next week, the fixtures will soon start piling up, though this will be greatly sweetened by the feat of having knocked out Chelsea. QPR will now have to wait for the arrival of Barnsley on September 26th to get those first three home points and in between they have two extremely tough games; the previously mentioned cup game with Chelsea next Wednesday plus a visit to Cardiff City in the league tomorrow. A win in either of those games would do wonders for manager Jim Magilton's reputation around Loftus Road (full match preview to follow).

It could also serve as a tonic for beleaguered club owner Flavio. Again, it will be old news to any QPR fan worth their salt, but Mr Briatore was forced out of his Renault Formula One team this week due to allegations made by his former driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, that Briatore, along with engineer Pat Symonds, convinced Piquet to deliberately crash out of 2008's Singapore Grand Prix. The crash, which led to the appearance of the safety car, greatly aided Piquet's teammate Fernando Alonso who went on to win the race.

Despite denying those allegations prior to last weekend's Italian Grand Prix (to the extent that he threatened to sue Piquet for blackmail), Briatore and Symonds both fell on their swords in midweek and quit Renault. Briatore has since said he only did this to save the team's future - the implication being that the FIA will be more lenient on Renault because they've been seen to take some action in-house.

If this strategy will work cannot be determined yet and Renault will go before the World Motor Sports Council in Paris on Monday. It may have saved them from being kicked out of the sport, but a massive fine and further censure is probable.

For Briatore, the future is even more murky. Much has been made of the potential of this scandal to cross over into his footballing life. Under the Football League's 'Fit and Proper Persons' Test' for club directors, anyone 'subject to a ban from a sports governing body relating to the administration of that sport' could be prohibited from involvement with a Football League club. But at the World Council meeting on Monday, they won't have the power to give Briatore a lifetime ban and he will not be in attendance. It looks like Flavio's pre-emptive action may have saved him from facing the FIA's wrath; in turn, that could mean that the Football League will not take any further action. The situation should be a little clearer after Monday.

Whether someone who is (allegedly) willing to have one of his employees deliberately crash is a 'fit and proper person' in general is another question? And is he someone QPR are so keen to be associated with from now on? So much of Briatore's reputation and success derived from his time in Formula One but who is to say his ruthless attitude to that sport will not carry over to football? The most worried person this week will also be Jim Magilton who will find his boss far more present around Loftus Road from now on. I hope to have some more on Flavio's future and what it could mean for QPR over the weekend though.

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