Henry denies wanting relegation changes

Last updated : 21 October 2011 By AP

Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the League Managers' Association, said this week that some of the American and Asian owners have been talking about ending the system.

But Henry called that "complete nonsense," telling The Associated Press on Thursday it "hasn't been discussed."

Half of the Premier League's 20 teams are foreign-owned. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United and Sunderland are owned by Americans, while Blackburn is under Indian ownership and Queens Park Rangers has Malaysian backers.

American sports leagues don't follow the European model of relegation and promotion. Bevan warned that, if more teams are sold to overseas investors, they could force a change in the long-standing rules.

However, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said that "there's been no serious debate about it at all."

"It's just a nonsensical starting point," Scudamore said. "It's scaremongering of the worst order in my view. There is absolutely no appetite for it. You just can't make statements without being able to back it up.

"I'm probably the person sitting with the most evidence. I speak to the clubs on a regular basis. I speak to all the owners — both foreign and British — on a very regular basis and there's no appetite for it whatsoever."