QPR Vice Chair Resigns Citing Ticket Price Hike & CEO Sacking

After newly promoted English Premier League soccer club Queens Park Rangers sacked its CEO Ishan Saksena, vice chairman Amit Bhatia quit after a boardroom disagreement.

Bhatia is the son-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, the metals billionaire whose family owns a third of the west London team. QPR also said Ishan Saksena, chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd., had “parted company” with the club, which is majority-owned by Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone.

The team recently survived a probe by the Football Association (FA) into a player signing that could have cost QPR a promotion-blocking penalty.

QPR said on its website: “Bhatia has stated his disagreement with some of the decisions taken by the board majority, namely season ticket prices and changes in the club management following the handing of the F.A. inquiry.”

Bhatia said in an open letter to fans cited by Press Association Sport: “It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation. However, it is clear to me from recent board meetings that my vision, strategy and direction for the club is very different from that of the other shareholders and board members.”

He added that the “decisions to sack club CEO and chairman Ishan Saksena and significantly increase season ticket prices are just two of the decisions I disagree with.”

The club have come in for huge criticism having hiked their ticket prices by 40 per cent following promotion to the elite league of English soccer. QPR claim that the decision was made in alignment with the other London clubs in the league, three of whom are high-fliers Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

The most expensive ticket next season will cost £72 (US$117.4), a massive 106 per cent increase from last term. The most expensive season ticket will cost £999 ($1,629), a £300 ($489) increase on the club’s Championship season, which included four more home games. The cheapest adult season ticket is £549 ($895), compared with £379 ($617.9) at nearby Fulham, and the average price is £739 ($1205), a rise in real terms of more than 57 per cent. The cheapest tickets will be £47 ($76.6) – more than double this term’s £20 ($32.6).