) is the former chairman of Queens Park Rangers football club after replacing Bill Power in a boardroom

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 coup

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

. He originally took his position at QPR as part of a Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

-based consortium

Consortium

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

, Wanlock LLC which acquired 30% of the club and retained his position notwithstanding the investment of Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone

Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...

, Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...

 and Lakshmi Mittal

Lakshmi Mittal

Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company....

 in 2007.

Biography

A promising teenage footballer, he was forced to give up the game at the age of 23, before playing a single game for his home town club Napoli

S.S.C. Napoli

Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....

.

Paladini came to England in the late sixties and settled in Solihull

Solihull

Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...

, marrying English wife Olga – the couple have two children, Stephen and Kate. He built up a business which involved property and nightclubs.

English Football

When the Premiership started importing foreign stars, Paladini became an interpreter in the football industry and eventually an agent for stars mainly linked with Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

, such as Fabrizio Ravanelli

Fabrizio Ravanelli

Fabrizio Ravanelli is a former international Italian football player, who won five titles with Juventus, including a Serie A championship in 1995 and a Champions League title in 1996....

, Benito Carbone

Benito Carbone

Benito known as Benny Carbone is a retired Italian professional footballer and former manager of Serie B club Varese. He played as a forward, winger or midfielder...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ians Emerson Moisés Costa

Emerson Moisés Costa

Emerson Moisés Costa , simply Emerson, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.As well as in his country, he played professionally in Portugal, England, Spain and Scotland...

 and Juninho Paulista

Juninho Paulista

Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior , better known as Juninho Paulista or simply Juninho, is a former Brazilian footballer...

.

He was first linked with a club takeover with Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 in December 2003, before being rejected by chairman Bill Bratt

Bill Bratt

William Amos "Bill" Bratt MBE is the former chairman of Port Vale Football Club, who served the club in this post from 2003 to 2011....

.

QPR

In 1996, music tycoon Chris Wright

Chris Wright

-Sports:* Chris Wright , plays for Essex County Cricket Club* Chris Wright , a guard at Georgetown University* Chris Wright , a forward at the University of Dayton...

 took over Queens Park Rangers but, five years later, he was forced to put the club into administration due to crippling debts. A year later the club came out of administration after securing a £10m loan from the ABC Corporation, based in Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

.

In June 2003, QPR announced that Moorbound Ltd had bought 22% (now diluted to 14%) of the PLC's issued shares, and giving the club a much needed cash injection of around £650,000. The deal saw Azeem Malik join the board. At that time Paladini could not join the board as he was a registered football agent. However the board of QPR were keen to meet someone who wanted to inject money into the club, and particularly since Paladini promised that Moorbound was the vehicle for another party with far more cash, and that he personally would bring stars such as Benito Carbone

Benito Carbone

Benito known as Benny Carbone is a retired Italian professional footballer and former manager of Serie B club Varese. He played as a forward, winger or midfielder...

 to Loftus Road.

On 13 August 14,000 fans turned up to see QPR play Sheffield United. Paladini arrived at the ground around 2pm with his son, daughter and grandson Gianluca, who was due to be the club's mascot that day. Paladini was allegedly threatened and attacked at the ground by a gang.

On 21 June 2006 jurors found club shareholders David Morris and John McFarlane not guilty of conspiracy to blackmail, false imprisonment and gun possession. On 28 June Judge Charles Byers told the jury to clear the other men, on the basis that, in the prosecution's case, Mr Morris had been the "essential core" of the blackmail plot and without him the case could not stand. The other defendants who denied all charges – and were all found not guilty – were: Andy Baker, 40, from North Petherton

North Petherton

North Petherton is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.The town has a population of 5,189...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

; Aaron Lacey, 36, from Watford

Watford

Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

; David Davenport, 38, from Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

; and Michael Reynolds, 45, from north London. Daniel Morris (David's brother) had disappeared before the trial, and a European warrant is still outstanding for his arrest.

After the trial

Soon after the alleged incident, Paladini, backed by several friends and fellow investors – including Brazilian World Cup winner Dunga

Dunga

Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri , commonly known as Dunga , is a former Brazilian football defensive midfielder and a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup...

 and two Monaco-based companies – ousted chairman Bill Power in a boardroom coup.

It was then alleged in the press that Paladini was using QPR to line the pockets of various agent friends with deals that the club could not afford. Typical is the suggestion that the acquisition of Marc Nygaard

Marc Nygaard

Marc Stephen Griffith Nygaard is a Danish professional footballer who plays for Helmond Sport as a striker.-Club career:...

, on a free transfer from Brescia Calcio

Brescia Calcio

Brescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...

, resulted in a £60,000 payment to agent Brian Hassell. It is also claimed that £10,000 was paid to Mel Eves, a Midlands-based agent, for the transfer of Ian Evatt

Ian Evatt

Ian Ross Evatt is an English footballer who currently plays for Blackpool.He began his professional career in 1999 at Derby County and has also played for Northampton Town , Chesterfield and Queens Park Rangers.-Early life:...

.

In February 2006, QPR's highly-rated manager Ian Holloway

Ian Holloway

Ian Scott Holloway is an English football manager and former player. He became the manager of Blackpool in May 2009. Holloway is well-known amongst football fans for his off-the-wall interviews, with a wide selection of quotes and soundbites being printed. Holloway's playing career spanned 18...

 was placed on gardening leave after a series of rows with Paladini, allegedly over Holloway's interest in the vacant managerial post at Leicester City.
Holloway returned to managerial duties at the club for the remainder of the 2005–06 season

2005-06 in English football

The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

 but was later allowed to join Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

 in June 2006.

Paladini retained his position as chairman at QPR despite the investment of significant new shareholders in the latter half of 2007 and the re-organisation of the club's directors which, among other changes, included the son-in-law of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal

Lakshmi Mittal

Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company....

taking a place on the board.
Paladini was removed as chairman on 18 August 2011 after a takeover by Tony Fernandes and became a consultant for the club. He quit his post at Queen's Park Rangers FC on 16th November 2011.