Football News : Joorabchian backs third-party player ownership

By ESPNsoccernet staff

Renowned football power broker Kia Joorabchian has defended third-party ownership of players, insisting that the practice helps smaller clubs compete in the transfer market.

GettyImagesKia Joorabchian was at the centre of a storm over Carlos Tevez's thrid-party ownership at West Ham

• Joorabchain: Tevez was mistranslated

Joorabchian acts as an adviser to a number of high-profile players - most notably Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, who the Iranian-born businessman brought to the Premier League from Corinthians five years ago.

Tevez was part-owned by Joorabchian until 2008, when he was forced to sell th e Argentinian's rights after the Football Association and Premier League enforced a blanket ban on third-party ownership.

However, the shared-ownership model remains widespread in other countries, particularly in South America, and Joorabchian believes the deals he is still involved in outside of England are beneficial for smaller clubs, who are unable to raise large transfer fees without extra support.

"If the banks are not willing to lend them money there needs to be another vehicle to lend them money to allow them to compete," Joorabchian said.

"Otherwise it will always be the top four or you need to find billionaire. The smaller clubs will never get a chance to succeed."