Football chairman locks players out

Players at troubled second division club FC Brussels have been locked out by the club’s chairman. After a deal with investors from Dubai broke down, chairman Johan Vermeersch decided to change the locks to club’s training facilities, locking out the new players brought in by the Dubai consortium. Brussels daily La Capitale has learnt that, having already forced the new recruits to train separately from the established players, the president had the locks to the main training pitch, the changing rooms and the club’s offices changed. As a result, the new recruits found themselves locked out when they reported for training. Officials at the commune of Molenbeek are far from amused. “You could almost laugh about it if it wasn’t so damaging for the commune’s image,” said Ahmed El Khannouss, alderman for sports. “I called Mr Vermeersch to remind him that he doesn’t own the stadium and must seek permission from the commune if he wishes to undertake such work.”  The new recruits, meanwhile, are training on the youth team’s pitch.