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BRUSSELS : An investigation into Arsenal's reported secret takeover of Belgian club Beveren has been dropped by Belgian prosecutors who say there is no case to answer.
Newsnight, one of the BBC's flagship news programmes, on Thursday claimed Arsenal had covertly handed over one million pounds to fund a 2001 takeover of the Belgian club, which specialises in recruiting young players from Ivory Coast.
"We have made inquiries into a suspect transaction by a company," Theo Byl, a spokesman for the public prosecutor, told news agency Belga.
"It was a considerable sum and the inquiry led to a person connected with Arsenal.
"This type of activity is forbidden by (football's world governing body) FIFA, but it is not illegal and we have therefore closed the investigation."
Beveren club spokesman Dirk Dobbeleir said: "We have nothing to fear from FIFA and their rules. A joint venture agreement has been made between Arsenal and Beveren but the police said everything was in order and there was no case to answer.
"We don't know why the media suddenly made so much of the matter though probably because the name Arsenal made it newsworthy."
The investigation was triggered by suspicions of Russian mafia involvement but the examining magistrates involved at first believed that Arsenal had covertly funded the takeover via a consortium known as Goal, according to the BBC.
Among those involved with Goal was Jean-Marc Guillou, a former French international and a close friend of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who helped set up a football academy in the Ivory Coast which has produced a string of top players including Arsenal defenders Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue.
In 2001, Guillou put together a financial restructuring package for heavily-indebted Beveren, which at the time was on the verge of financial collapse.
Arsenal said in a statement that it had provided around one million pounds to help Beveren stabilise its finances but denied breaching the rules of any of football's governing bodies.
FIFA lawyers are investigating whether Arsenal have broken their rule which forbids any club to control another club in any way whatsoever. If the Gunners are found to have breached this rule, the 2006 Champions League finalists could be fined or even suspended.
- AFP /ls
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