Beware of the Russian Connection in England's premier league

Speaking at the seminar entitled "Maew City: Real or Decoy?" organised by the Thai Journalists Association, Democrat Party executive Sirichoke Sopa warned that there could be a "Russian connection" among three clubs in the Premier League: Chelsea, owned by Roman Abramovich; Fulham, owned by Mohamed AlFayed; and Manchester City, recently bought by the ousted Thai prime minister.

The owners of the three club have close relations, he said.

"It will not be surprising if the three clubs join hands for price manipulation or overvaluing footballers in order to make their accounts look good," Sirichok said.

He thought Thaksin, not Manchester City, would be the main beneficiary from his takeover of the football club.

First, it enables Thaksin to invest his money outside Thailand. Second, if the club reach the top ranks of the league under Thaksin, Thais would see him as a "superman". Third, Thaksin will be able to apply for permanent residence as he now owns a business in England and has stayed there for 180 days as required.

British MPs had raised concerns about Thaksin meeting the Premier League's "fit and proper person" requirement for club owners after he was summoned back to Thailand to answer corruption charges. But Thaksin's lawyer Noppadon Pattama insisted that this would not be a problem for Thaksin since British authorities have to wait until the final court verdict on the charges.

"The deal is about a big amount of money. Thaksin has carefully consulted with his family," Noppadon said.

However he failed to clarify when exactly Thaksin had taken the money being used for the deal out of Thailand. Noppoadon said only that it was clean money that was taken out legally.

"If the money were illegal, the seller would not sell. In England, they are strict about money laundering," he said.

Noppadon said all relevant details and documents would be released on Thaksin's website, www.truethaksin.com, once the deal is completed.

//by Jintana Panyaarvudh

The Nation