Usmanov in frame to increase power at Arsenal

ARSENAL'S BOARDROOM last night suffered its second fracture in less than two years, casting fresh uncertainty over the club's future ownership.

Nina Bracewell-Smith, who owns 15.9 per cent of Arsenal - with an estimated value of €54 million - has been removed from the board after three years as a director. The decision followed what is believed to have been a major argument with her fellow directors and there is now uncertainty as to whether her stake is up for sale.

Bracewell-Smith has also left the shareholders' lockdown agreement that is meant to provide stability to directors' holdings. She said in October that she had "never considered selling" her shares in Arsenal. But to take that on trust is a risky strategy for Arsenal's board, which last year saw David Dein sell his stake for €80 million to the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

Arsenal directors are gambling that in the current economic climate Usmanov has neither the will nor the wherewithal to buy Bracewell-Smith's shares. Currently less than 30 per cent of the shares in issue are formally tied in to the lockdown. But Arsenal's old-guard directors, led by Danny Fiszman, may have calculated that their alliance with the American Stan Kroenke and his 12.4 per cent holding meant they could afford to ostracise Bracewell-Smith.

In the past Usmanov has made clear he has no intention of buying a majority shareholding in Arsenal but yesterday's events appear to have altered that stance.