Tottenham accused of editing meeting minutes, fan groups call for transparency

Tottenham Hotspur have been accused of selectively editing the minutes of a fans’ meeting held earlier this month, including taking out a line saying the club “welcomed the input” of supporters.

Representatives of the Spurs board, including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, met with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) on Feb. 3, just over a week before Thomas Frank’s dismissal as head coach.

THST said there were a number of specific points raised in the meeting “which the club did not agree to include in the final published version, despite our request.”

Among the lines THST says were taken out were: “The club welcomed the input of THST.”

Also edited out, THST claims, was a section outlining fans’ concern at the risk of relegation from the Premier League, and that the belief generated from winning the Europa League last season had now been “lost.”

Concerns around the lack of young players coming through, the club’s ability to generate profit and what specific on-field targets lay beneath “strategic principles” set out by the club were also requested to be included but left out, THST said.

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“Publishing a full record of the points raised helps ensure accountability and allows members, and the wider fan-base, to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf,” a statement published on the THST website read.

“Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the club.”

Tottenham declined to comment, but sources close to the club indicated there was no intention to sanitise the minutes and had sought to produce a factual account of the matters discussed.

Spurs sit 16th in the Premier League with 12 matches to go, five points above the bottom three.

The club have brought in Croatian Igor Tudor as head coach until the end of the season.