Monday, May 12, 2025
Blog Page 1322

Financial Fair Play: an impending clash for club owners?

Jamie Farmer
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Financial Fair Play: an impending clash for club owners?

 

Bobby Zamora’s goal on Saturday may have just caused a massive headache for the Football League. QPR’s assent into the big time once again may cause the start of a battle between owners and the footballing authorities over sustainable finance. The sight of Tony Fernandes, jumping on the back of Joey Barton could have been inspired by the fact that he may have just escaped the clutches of Football League punishment. In contravention of the Financial Fair Play regulations, QPR posted losses of £65.4m in 2012-13, with a wage bill of £68m. This year, despite loaning many of their more expensive players out to Europe, finances are not projected to look much better; they are not expected to have reached the Football League’s target of reducing losses to £8m. The Football League’s sanctions to non-conforming and frivolously spending clubs include a transfer ban and a fine for ambitious overspending clubs. But they are not enforceable for clubs entering the Premier League, since these are under a different jurisdiction who have refused to enforce theFootball League’s punishment.

 

Potnetially, this could lead to the Football League attempting to en- force the fine through the courts. UEFA and all professional leagues in England have created FFP rules in an attempt to cut spending. In the Premier League, clubs are not permitted to have losses over £105m (£15m if no equity injected into the clubs), otherwise they face a points deduction. In the Championship clubs have to re- duce losses season-on-season to a maximum of £3m by 2015. Clubs in Europe cannot post more than £45m losses over 3 years.

 

Recently Manchester City and Paris St Germain have been hit with a €60m fine and a restriction on the number of players they can enter into next year’s Champions League competition. Indeed, Manchester City has been accused by some of trying to circumvent FFP rules through a lucrative £400m contract over ten years with Etihad, who happen to be owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the half-brother of Man City owner Sheikh Mansour.

 

Many have questioned the validity of enforcing financial regulations in football. A court case dealt with by the European Commission has already defeated a legal challenge to the rules in May 2014 – where a Belgian agent attempted to argue that the rules restricted investment, dampened wages and locked-in the power of the big clubs. The court ruled there was no case to answer. In spite of this, Tony Fernandes has already vowed to fight any fines given to QPR.

 

The rules were first devised in 2012, in response to the unsustainable levels of spending in professional football. The modern game has seen inflation of transfer fees and wages entering into billions of pounds. In 2013, the world’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale, cost Real Madrid a staggering £85.3m. The rise of clubs such as Manchester City, where an Abu Dhabi-based consortium bought the club in 2008 and proceeded to make a loss of £93m in 2008-09 and £121m in 2009-10, has caused concerns over the competitiveness of the sport. The Premier League table looks like a list of the top spending clubs on players’ wages.

 

In response to such concerns, it has been pointed out that, without teams like Manchester City, Chelsea and PGS entering the fray, the top competitions of European Football would be dominated by the same teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid. From this angle, the regulations protect the dominant teams and prevent a challenge to the status quo.

 

Yet, arguments that football needs to become sustainable, before the bubble bursts do have force. High levels of spending and debt can only remain when the sport stays popular and attracts worldwide audiences. There is no guarantee that such levels of interest will continue into the indefinite future. What then for clubs like Manchester United, who incurred £265 debt against its assets when the Glazer family acquired a majority shareholding in 2005?

 

Certain clubs attempting to enter the big- time have also fallen foul when the investment ran out. Portsmouth is a good example of this. They entered administration and dropped from the Premier League to league 2 in 4 years after a report of £58m debt in 2012. Other clubs, such as Chester City and Darlington have been liquidated, despite long histories in the Football League.

 

It will be interesting to see who takes the hit: the clubs, or the players’ wages. Professional sport is one of the only industries to have continued to prosper throughout the financial cri- sis, but can it continue to do so?

 

It is clear something has to be done about the frivolous spending by all clubs across the football world, before the bubble does eventually burst. FFP is a means of doing so which is facing strong resistance from many clubs, who stand to lose out.

 

As a result, be prepared for a clash fairly soon between owners and the football authorities. The scene could well get very messy, very quickly.

 

Oxford University Shakespeare Festival

Joel Casey
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Oxford University Shakespeare Festival

Cherwell Sport’s guide to Summer Eights

Jonathon Turnbull
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Cherwell Sport’s guide to Summer Eights

This week sees the biggest event in college rowing return to the Isis. Summer Eights takes place between Wednesday 28th May and Saturday 31st May between 11:50am and 6:45pm, except on Saturday when racing is between 10:45am and 5:45pm.

The traditional Bumps event, in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, with each crew attempting to catch and “bump” the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind, is expected to attract thousands of spectators to the boathouses and banks of the Isis. The crowd, made up of students and alumni, flock to the river to see the rowing but also to experience to bustling atmosphere on race day and perhaos even to enjoy a glass of Pimms in the sun.

Rowing on, the qualifying event for the race, took place last week, attracting crews of all abilities to take to the water in pursuit of glory, and a set of blades. The time trial event saw Mansfield M2 and Wolfson M3, and Jesus W3 and Green Templeton W3, come top of the men’s and women’s qualifiers respectively. The day’s action saw only one disqualification with Jesus M4 Captain evacuating the boat after the crew posted a time that would have seen them qualify.

The competition itself sees Pembroke chased by Christ Church and Oriel in the M1 division. Oriel M1 are favourites amongst the rowing faithful, with Malcolm Howard, president of the 2014 Boat Race winning OUBC, in their crew. The Women’s division 1 sees St. John’s followed by Wadham, Teddy Hall and Pembroke, with Wadham W1 looking strong as favourites. 

The top of the Women’s division is set to be a tight contest too, with St. John’s and Wadham hosting no Blues or university rowers.

Trinity is host to one of the most decorated crews, with Blues Constantine Louloudis and Michael DiSanto, and Isis rower James Fraser-Mackenzie rowing for their M1. They start in eigth position however, so are likely to make fourth or fifth spot this year, setting them in good stead for victory next year.

Sam Skillcorn, Vice Captain of Jesus College Boat Club, predicts that “Keble M1 are going to smash it from the bottom of division 1, since they have loads of internationals and ex-Olympians in their boat”. To mention only one of them; Tim Foster is part of their crew, and was part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic GB Gold Medal winning four alongside Matthew Pinsent, Sir Steve Redgrave and James Cracknell. 

Having only recently entered the rowing scene, Green Templeton have been on the rise since they entered the summer eights competition. Having moved up the divisons every year, they are now 11th in division 4, and are likely to continue their climb.

At the other end of the spectrum, Exeter are rumoured to have relatively poor crews, and don’t seem to be backing themselves either by only entering M1 and W1 boats. Both crews are rowing in division two, so will face tight competition.

Now in full swing, summer eights is set to be as exciting and as hotly-contested as ever.

OUDC Cuppers introduces 190 students to the world of Dance

Alexandra Damgaard And Daniel Claff
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OUDC Cuppers introduces 190 students to the world of Dance

A chant begins from one corner of Iffley Sport Centre as athletes in waistcoats and dresses return from the dance floor to the spectating area.

As the exhausted Quickstep dancers quickly grab a drink of water, two rival chants begin elsewhere around the main floor in support of Trinity and Teddy Hall. Finally, the compere – competitive dancesport’s version of a master of ceremonies – booms over the PA system the numbers of the competitors who have made the fourth round of the Jive. The chants are replaced by localised cheers as the successful couples take the floor.

For a moment, an anxious silence settles amongst the over 300 spectators and competitors. The atmosphere is still and tense in anticipation. Finally, the bouncing beats of Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman” come over the loud-speakers. Immediately, the colleges resume their raucous yelling as the couples take hold and fly into a flurry of kicks and flicks.

All this commotion is a result of Oxford University Dancesport Club’s annual Cuppers competition. Following on from Cherwell Sport’s preview of the Dancesport Cuppers competition in Issue 4 this term, we bring you the review. Over 200 participants from 25 colleges took part in the biggest dance-off of the year. In the competition, each college creates teams of four couples, each competing in either the Waltz, Quickstep, Cha Cha, or Jive. Each couple must be made up of at least one beginner and the teaching format is similar to that of Strictly Come Dancing. Experienced dancers teach beginners as much as they can starting anything between 3 weeks and 3 days before the event. Couples score points based on how far they advance in the competition. These count towards two categories – a team match and an overall college score. This year’s overall winners, Trinity College, recruited 40 dancers creating five full teams. By a 2.5 point margin, they beat Keble College, who fielded a team of 30 dancers. The best four-couple team went to Keble.

To get ahead in the game, some participants attended classes in Ballroom and Latin hosted throughout the year by the dancesport club, OUDC. The club’s Ballroom and Latin classes are part of a broader social and competitive dancing framework that includes the full-Blue competitive team, a beginner’s team, a competitive Rock ‘n’ Roll team, the Rueda Komrades, and a variety of social dancing classes in each discipline.

The competitive Ballroom and Latin main and beginners teams, along with the Rock ‘n’ Roll squad went head to head with Cambridge at the Varsity Match one week prior to Cuppers, in addition to five other competitions across the country in Michaelmas and Hilary terms. The highlight of the year is the Inter-Varsity Dancesport Competition at the Blackpool Winter Gardens Ballroom, where approximately 800 people from university teams across the entire country compete.

Many of the experienced dancers who compete for OUDC were on hand at Cuppers to captain the 25 college teams and coach the new, inexperienced dancers to victory. A lot of these now experienced dancers started their dancesport career after competing in a previous Cuppers event and then subsequently joined the Beginners Team.

Cherwell Sport’s very own editor attended the event out of curiosity and stayed for the whole competition. The level of skill involved with ballroom dancing throughout the university was very high, but was complemented nicely by an array of beginners getting involved.

Dancesport is arguably one of the fastest growing sports in Oxford, with a growing number of participants, and an increasing turnout from supporters each year. The Cuppers competition is definitely something worth getting involved in for dancers of all levels, and particularly beginners who want to learn the basics and perform them in a relatively short space of time. It was great to see the surprise and delight on the faces of the beginners that managed to progress through the rounds, with some going on to make the final.

The commentary team were also entertaining, and always on the ball, providing jokes, which were sometimes at the expense of the dancers, to keep the crowd entertained in the short intervals.

Even if only to spectate, make sure you get down to Iffley Road for the competition next year, as it really is a pleasure to watch and a great day out for both dancers and audience!

Living Internationally: Thoughts of a second-year linguist

Erin Goldfinch
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Living Internationally: Thoughts of a second-year linguist

I’ve done it. With one click, I’ve bought my plane ticket to Germany this summer. In just over a month I’ll be embarking on the first leg of my year abroad, but only now does it really hit me that I’m actually going away.
For the past couple of months I and many of my fellow linguists have been oscillating between a wide range of emotions: giddy excitement, anxiety, sheer panic, denial, to name but a few. By now most of the stress of actually finding a placement has passed, but the even more overwhelming stress of Oh-my-God-how-am-I-going-to-survive-abroad-on-my-own-for-a-year has begun to kick in.

The impending horror of having to set up the WiFi on my laptop all by myself is almost too much, though this pales in comparison to a friend of mine bound for Paraguay, who has carried out extensive research on the bugs and diseases which could potentially bring her year abroad to a premature (and rather painful) end.

Tales from returning fourth years don’t help to allay the anxiety. One poor guy turned up in Austria with the promise of a spare room which turned out to be little more than the sofa in the front room, whilst many students bound for Paris were ripped off by an online scam renting out apartments which didn’t even exist, leaving them out of pocket and without a roof over their heads.

That being said, there are plenty of stories to fill an outward-bound linguist with anticipation. One French student became a local hero in the tiny French village he was placed in by leading their amateur rugby team to victory. Just as it is in Oxford, rugby is BIG in France. Spain, on the other hand is a country of football fans, and, as I learnt from a previous visit, you’d better have an opinion on the Real Madrid/Barcelona rivalry prepared before you go.

The year abroad can also offer plenty of amorous opportunities – one fourth year’s top tip for making the most out of your year abroad? “Just get a French boyfriend.” (This only really helps if you do French, of course – not much use if you’re studying German or Spanish, though most of us still wouldn’t say no to a Frenchman…) Just make sure you save the account of your experiences of ‘international affairs’ for brief Skype chats with your stressed Finalist friends, unlike one returning linguist, who spent the best part of a formal dinner regaling her tutors with a full and detailed account of her love life during her year abroad.

Of course, as exciting/terrifying as going abroad may be, it’s still tinged with sadness at the thought of leaving Oxford and the people who make it feel like home, many of whom will, rather inconveniently, have graduated by the time I get back. Though they might have jokingly offered to do a Masters/rusticate in order to keep me company, the desolate landscape of fourth year is a grim prospect to return to after the fun and excitement of the year abroad.

A year abroad also means a year ‘out of the loop’, something that can happen even after being out of Oxford for a week. That being said, most of what we’re likely to miss from final year will be thrilling 8 hour stints in the library with the occasional stress-related meltdown to liven the mood.

I did nearly panic, though, when a good friend informed me he was planning to deactivate his Facebook account for most of third year, (“But how will I keep in contact with you??” Momentarily forgetting that Skype and email also exist…) though the chances of him following through on this threat are admittedly slim. Above all, the thought of not witnessing your closest friends finish their exams, get trashed and then get horrifically, hilariously drunk afterwards is rather bleak.

On the plus side, this does give us one more year to delay finals and, by extension, the onset of the ‘real world’. While most of our friends will by then be slogging away at a 9-to-5 graduate job, we get to live the student life in the city of dreaming spires for a little while longer – a rather appealing prospect.

But then again, who knows what we’ll have seen and done during our year away? After living and working abroad independently for a year it must seem strange returning to the confines of university life. I’m pretty sure there must be at least one student every couple of years who, after finding their true calling in foreign climes, decides to jack in their degree and join a traveling circus or something similar… That could even be me.

Though it may be a compulsory part of our degree, it’s often said that the year abroad is a chance to really discover who you are as a person and what you want from life.

Despite the stress and anxiety, Many linguists have this in mind as they embark on their year abroad and hope to return to Oxford in a year a changed person, though in many ways still the same.

Students Loans Company criticised over data breaches

Emma Cookson
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Students Loans Company criticised over data breaches

The Student Loans Company has been criticised over a series of data breaches, involving several incidents where information held about students has been sent to the wrong people.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has reported several incidents where classified data held about students, including medical details and psychological assessments, had been sent to the wrong people. An ICO investigation found that not enough checks were carried out to safeguard protected information, and more sensitive documents actually received fewer checks.

Since students are required to send personal information when applying for loans, this lack of security and leaking of information has breached primary principles of the Data Protection Act, which ensures that personal information is secure and protected.

The ICO Head of Enforcement, Stephen Eckersley, is reported as saying, “For the majority of students, the Student Loans Company represents a crucial service that they rely on to fund their studies. Students are obliged to provide personal information to the loans company, both while they receive the loan and in the years when they are paying it back, and they are right to expect that information to be properly looked after.

He continued, “Our investigation showed that wasn’t happening. We’ve spoken with the company and made clear that changes need to be made, and a formal undertaking is now in place.”

Imogen Crane, a first year student at Regent’s Park College, commented, “It’s a huge breach of student trust, especially considering how many students rely, almost completely, on the loan company for their day to day life, as well as larger bills. It’s incredibly irritating because we are so dependent on the loans just to afford university so to hear that they have lost and misplaced our personal information reinforces my dislike of the loan system that is currently in place.”

Welfare Officer, Isobel Wilson, expressed similar concerns, “As a welfare officer, it’s worrying to hear that students who are already under extreme stress have to deal with the possibility that the loans system they rely on is insecure. It is not conducive to a healthy college atmosphere to have any worries regarding misplaced information, especially that as sensitive as loans, grants and psychological tests.”

Tom Rutland, OUSU President, told Cherwell, “This is disappointing news – students taking out loans with the Student Loans Company should be able to trust that their data and personal information is safe.”

The Student Loans Company Ltd has signed an undertaking that ensures future correspondences involving protected data will be better secured and thoroughly checked so as to prevent future incidents.

 

Sullivan escapes vote of no confidence

Cherwell News Team
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Sullivan escapes vote of no confidence

Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan avoided a vote of no confidence on Thursday evening after members voted to withdraw the motion.

After a three-hour debate, Union member Inigo Lapwood proposed to cancel the motion of no confidence on grounds that “whichever way people voted would have had a non-negligible effect on the ongoing criminal proceeding”. The motion not to vote passed 254 to 101.

The original motion “This House has no confidence in the president, Benjamin Sullivan, Christ Church” was posted in the Union last Thursday, 15th May, and was signed by over 30 members. This came in response to Sullivan’s arrest on 7th May on suspicion of rape and attempted rape.

Aleksy Gaj, who proposed the motion of no confidence, stood first to address the packed chamber. Gaj told the House, “Tonight, my speech is not a comment on the allegations made against Mr Sullivan. It is not to pervert the course of justice in the British legal system.

“This is a sad time for Mr Sullivan and his friends, I agree. But this is no basis to be running the Union as its figurehead and president,” he concluded.
The heated debate that followed saw a range of issues raised, including worries about affecting Sullivan’s court case and faltering public opinion of the Union.

The heated debate that followed Gaj’s opening remarks saw a range of issues raised, including worries about affecting Sullivan’s court case and faltering public opinion of the Union. At one point, Union member Joe Miles declared, “We are making national media for all the wrong reasons.”

Speaking after the debate, Barnaby Raine condemned Sullivan’s conduct, “I absolutely want to be as clear as it is possible to be: Ben Sullivan is innocent until he is proven guilty. Nobody has ever denied that, and he should stop implying to the press that anyone is denying that, because nobody is.

“If as a society you take rape seriously as a crime, then these are the things you don’t do: you don’t when allegations are made, try to use Union money to shut up the press from reporting about those allegations without even telling the members that you are doing it; you don’t have that discussion in secret, in Camera, not on the record so no one knows what’s it’s about, and when someone asks for the minutes of the meeting tell them the minutes aren’t available… You don’t refuse to stand aside without prejudice as the Secretary General of Interpol told you to do; you don’t just dismiss it and carry on as normal.”

If you do take rape seriously, the moment that allegations are made – at least, the moment you are arrested – you step aside until you have proven yourself innocent. I wish Ben Sullivan had done that. If he’d done that we wouldn’t be here today, there wouldn’t be any trouble, and people wouldn’t be crying outside this Union chamber tonight.”

Speaking about the allegations of sexual assault against Sullivan, one student present at the debate commented, “I have suffered in the past; I know what it is like. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe someone should be judged before they go to court.”

Inigo Lapwood, who proposed the motion to drop the no-confidence vote under Rule 43 d) ii), also emphasised the need to avoid using the Union as a courtroom.

“I would not risk having an innocent man declared guilty, or a guilty man evade justice due to Union bullshit. Rape allegations are too serious to be hijacked and wielded as a weapon for student political agendas,” Lapwood stated.

Towards the end of the debate there was widespread confusion over Lapwood’s secondary motion. Josh Atkinson, a member from St Benet’s and last term’s Returning Officer explained, “Tonight a lengthy debate was had on the motion of No confidence which culminated in a ‘leave of the house’ deciding whether the motion should be withdrawn or not.

“Under Rule 43 d) ii), a motion once put can only be withdrawn by ‘leave of the house’; this is what happened. After Inigo’s proposal and the reception it received from the house, the chair assessed that the house may have wanted the motion withdrawn and thus let the house decided. The house decided to withdrawn the motion and thus remain silent due to the issue being so divisive.”

Sullivan did not attend the debate due to fear of contempt of court. A prepared statement was read during the debate on his behalf by the Chair, former Secretary Alex Trafford.

“The proposition will of course note that this debate has nothing to do with the allegations against me. However, I think it will be difficult to divorce my suitability to hold my office from the validity of the allegations against me. As I have said before, if I am charged, I will resign.”

“But passing a vote of no confidence at a time when I am not even able to defend myself would, I believe, go against everything the greater society stands for,” Sullivan’s statement read.

Speaking immediately after the debate, Sullivan told Cherwell, “I am pleased that the House has decided to defer to the appropriate procedures of the criminal justice system.”

Although the President did not attend the debate, members reported seeing Sullivan standing outside the Union as members exited the chamber.
Aliya Yule, a student at the debate, told Cherwell, “Ben Sullivan said that his presence could possibly prejudice a court and he was told not to be here. He was here, he was standing outside when it happened. He was watching everyone come out, he was hugging his friends as they voted for the motion to be removed.

“It created an incredibly intimidating atmosphere, it was unbelievably insensitive to survivors of sexual assault, many of whom were in the chamber some of whom voiced their experiences and it further shows how the Union and Ben do not take these rape allegations seriously.”

Sullivan rejected these allegations, commenting, “I was outside soon after the vote speaking to some of my close friends. I am not sure how this constituted an intimidating atmosphere, especially given that the vote had already taken place. I also thought it odd that Barnaby Raine came up to me in the courtyard and demanded that I leave.”

A motion to bring in a Re-Open Nominations candidate at Union elections had been scheduled to be debated after the no-confidence motion. However under Rule 47 e) iii), 150 members have to vote on a rules change and after the end of the no confidence too few members were left in the chamber for a vote to be held.

Speaking to Cherwell, Josh Atkinson, a former RO and proposer of the RON motion, said, “I am saddened that the rules change introducing RON could not be passed. I believe that the Union needs this huge electoral reform and the rules change was written very well to bring it.”

He continued, “I am however annoyed that Standing Committee didn’t propose the rule so that it could be brought sooner, I believe this is due to many of its current members wanting to benefit from unopposed elections. I hope that the members get a choice of candidates in the next election with which they are happy and I will bring this motion again in the near future in the hope that, with fewer issues surrounding the Union, we can finally sort out our electoral process.”

The motion will be discussed at a future meeting but will not be in place during this term’s elections.

For a detailed account of the evening’s debate, see Cherwell’s live-tweets.

Summer Eights 2014: The Mid Point

Jonathon Turnbull
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Summer Eights 2014: The Mid Point

We are now into Friday and with it the third day of Summer Eights 2014. Now at the mid-point of the competition, Cherwell Sport is taking a look at all of the rises and falls that the college crews have seen so far.

On day one at the top of the Men’s divisions, Pembroke rowed over and managed to retain their position at Head of the River, whilst Oriel bumped Christ Church to go up to second.

Unfortunately for Pembroke, they could only retain their place at the top for one day. Oriel, who went into the competition with high expectations, bumped them to take the top spot. Christ Church rowed over to stay in third position.

The top of the Women’s position saw an uneventful first day, with all three boats (St. John’s, Wadham and Teddy Hall) retaining their positions and rowing over. Day two brought more action though, with Wadham managing to bump St. John’s to take the Headship.

To the surprise of the rowing fanatics, Keble M1 failed to bump despite their decorated crew of international and Olympic rowers, including Tim Foster of the Sydney 2000 GB Gold Medal winning four.

This year’s Blues stroke rower, and next year’s OUBC President, Constantine Louloudis, pulled out of the competition through injury, but his crew Trinity M1 showed their strength in depth, managing to bump without their star man.

Day one saw lots of bumps in division two for both the Men and Women, with Jesus W1 bumping St. Catz to take third place. They managed to retain this on day two by rowing over and are looking to advance in the second half of the competition.

Jesus M1 kept the historic Turl Street rivalry alive by managing to bump their college rivals, Exeter, to go into 9th place in division two. Members of the Jesus M1 crew still maintain that they are the most fashionable Men’s first boat to grace the Isis, wearing matching sun glasses and green arm sleeves, a level of accessorisation not matched by any other crew in the competition. 

In other news, in the Men’s 7th division, Keble M5 managed to snap the bow off their boat.

The second half of the competition is set to be exciting with real competition between the crews in the top divisions. Can Wadham’s Women defend their Headship? Can Christ Church catch Pembroke? Can Trinity continue their climb up division one? Cherwell Sport will bring you the latest from Summer Eights.

Cherwell live tweet the #UnionNoCon debate

Robert Walmsley
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Cherwell live tweet the #UnionNoCon debate

See Cherwell’s Twitter account for full coverage of this evenings events, below are selected key moments:


Christ Church students face eviction during ball

Tom Calver
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Christ Church students face eviction during ball

Christ Church students, some still in the middle of exams, face being removed from their rooms by college authorities over the weekend of the college ball.

In a JCR motion, it is reported , citing non-specific “security reasons”, that the college has ordered that students living in Meadows, Old Library and Tom Quad areas leave their rooms from the 21st June, barring their return until the following day.

The College previously stated that the restrictions would only last during the period the ball itself is being held.

However, as well as extending the ban period, students have accused the college of not making any specific dispensation for members with examinations.

In an emergency JCR meeting held on Sunday, a drafted motion claimed, “This lack of foreknowledge has limited the options of students living in affected areas and constitutes the ticket contract to now be unfair.”

It added, “This House is our house, and displacing members, but not alumni and non-students, from their residence on the basis they are a security risk is distasteful.”

However, Rachel Perham, PA to the Dean of Christ Church, insisted that students would not be barred from their rooms until the afternoon of the 22nd, as the JCR motion has suggested.

“As happens at many other colleges,” she said, “Undergraduates will vacate rooms within the ball perimeter from 12 noon on the day of the ball and be escorted back in groups after the ball between 6.30 and 7.30 am the following morning.”

Perham also refuted the suggestion that the college was working against the wishes of students, telling Cherwell, “These arrangements were proposed by the ball committee whose members are mainly undergraduate students, and are the result of lengthy negotiations with the JCR.”

In response to claims that the college had made “no specific dispensation” for members with examinations, the college has agreed to give “students with public examinations on the day of the ball or at the beginning of week 9 priority in allocation of alternative accommodation should they not wish to attend the ball.”

Perham stated that there would be “special arrangements for those who need to access their belongings after examinations on the morning of the ball.”

However, it would seem that claims by the students’ JCR motion for the college to “reimburse members for the cost of finding alternative accommodation” have been disregarded, with Christ Church college stating, “Undergraduate licence agreements cover the period until 9.30 am on the day of the Ball, and residence after this time requires special permission, […] there is no question of undergraduates being evicted from rooms.”

Meanwhile, Felix Goodman, a student at Christ Church, spoke in favour of the college’s decision, telling Cherwell that, “The Ball as it is is going to be a security nightmare”.

He further stated that he could, “completely understand the college’s desire to make their job slightly easier by shutting these rooms,” suspecting that, “the reason for closing many of these rooms on the night of the ball is to reduce the opportunity for sniper cover.”

Negotiations continue between the JCR and the college.
The JCR President was unavailable for comment when approached by Cherwell.

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