Independent Football Regulator reveals three SAC members that are 'suitable' to own Cobblers

Atanas Bostandjiev, who is the the majority owner of Bulgaria's Levski Sofia, and tech entrepreneurs Hugh Strange and Adam Wible have all been approved by the IFR following what the regulator described as a ‘thorough assessment’ of their suitability.

An IFR spokesperson said: "The IFR has determined Atanas Bostandjiev, Hugh Strange, and Adam Wible are suitable to become owners of Northampton Town FC.

"All prospective owners are assessed against the same robust criteria. This includes assessing a candidate's financial soundness, sources of wealth, honesty and integrity and whether they have sufficient financial resources.

"As part of any ODSE (owners, directors, and senior executives) assessment, the IFR carries out various enquiries and checks on candidates, including any criminal proceedings or convictions, civil actions and other regulatory investigations as required.”

The IFR checks the following:

• The IFR conducted a thorough assessment of each applicant's suitability against the strict criteria as set out in the Football Governance Act 2025 and the ODSE Rules.
• Prospective owners are assessed against the individual ownership fitness criteria of having the requisite honesty and integrity and being financially sound. The IFR will also consider whether a prospective owner has sufficient financial resources, and it will only approve a prospective owner where it does not have grounds to suspect that the individual has any source of wealth connected to serious criminal conduct.
• The IFR is required to assess sources of wealth wherever they are located. Where relevant, assessments also include consideration of circumstances relating to the candidate's conduct overseas.

The IFR’s confirmation comes after Northampton announced last Friday that both its approval process and the EFL’s clearance process had been successfully completed in relation to SAC’s proposed acquisition of a shareholding in the club.

The investment is not yet formally complete, with the remaining documentation needing to be finalised before the transaction can go through.

Former Brazil international Alexandre Pato is also part of the SAC consortium, although the IFR has specifically identified Bostandjiev, Strange and Wible as the prospective owners that have been assessed and approved.

Full details of the investment structure and the principal investors involved are expected to be announced once the transaction is completed, which should be before the end of the month.