Manchester City chairman and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was told by the English Premier League on Monday that it “will not turn a blind eye” if he were deemed to have broken its ownership rules.
Instead of facing corruption charges at a hearing in his homeland, Thaksin fled to London, prompting the Supreme Court to issue an arrest warrant.
He was photographed on Monday walking with his family down a shopping street in Surrey, south of London.
PHOTO: AP
A conviction could contravene the soccer league’s “fit and proper persons” test, used to decide on suitable directors and owners of clubs, and he could be forced to sell his stake in the club.
When the purchase of Manchester City was completed in July last year, Human Rights Watch claimed Thaksin was unfit under the league’s rules because of his administration’s alleged human rights abuses.
Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup, faces a string of court cases and investigations into alleged corruption and abuse of power during his five years in office.
“Of course, if we feel the rule has been breached, we will invoke it,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said on Monday. “We will not turn a blind eye to issues of a serious nature. It is quite a complex matter and we can’t just make a judgment on the spot, but clearly we have a club owner who has not yet been found guilty of any offense.”
Scudamore said the league will seek advice from Britain’s Foreign Office and Home Office on the developing matter.
“We are not experts in law in every country, so it is wise to speak with the people who are,” he said.
Thaksin had a smooth first year in charge at Man City, until removing manager Sven-Goran Eriksson in June in what he admitted was a “ruthless” action after only one season following the club’s ninth-place finish.
Despite reports last week claiming Thaksin is looking to sell his soccer club, City officials are confident this isn’t the case and that he is merely stepping back from a frontline role after being in the limelight during his debut season.
But City could face an uncertain financial future as Thaksin will be unable to access more than US$2 billion of his family’s assets that Thai authorities have frozen pending the corruption cases against him.
Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, failed to return to Thailand after traveling to Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, but he reiterated his innocence on Monday, arguing that he would not receive a fair trial in Thailand.
On July 31, the criminal court convicted Pojaman of evading millions of dollars in taxes and sentenced her to three years in prison. She was released on bail.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS