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JUNE 15
Thai deal takes new
twist
BBC Sport Online
Thailand's biggest music and entertainment company has offered to lead
a group of Thai investors in buying a stake in Liverpool.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had talks with Paiboon
Damrongchaitham - chairman of GMM Grammy - on Saturday.
The investors are keen to buy a 30% share of the club for around £63m,
according to deputy commerce minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn.
Thaksin earlier this year announced his plan to buy a stake in Liverpool.
But the deal has been fraught, with heavy public criticism following his
plan to finance the purchase with a state-run lottery.
Critics said the funding plan would promote gambling and prompt the poor
to put hard-earned money in a risky investment.
Thaksin had originally indicated he would buy the Liverpool stake with his
own money.
But the government later said the stake would be owned by a new company to
be set up under the government's Sports Authority of Thailand, a plan that
now seems unlikely.
JUNE 6
Everton deny Thaksin
link
BBC Sport Online
Everton have played down speculation that they are in talks with
Thailand Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra about selling a stake in the
club.
Thaksin has made a £65m offer for 30% of Liverpool but that deal is in
doubt after plans for a lottery were shelved.
Everton director Paul Gregg is in Thailand to discuss a shirt sponsorship
with Thai brewers Chang Beer.
But Thaksin could not buy into both clubs as a person can only hold shares
of under 10% in two Premiership clubs.
"Paul has not been speaking to the Thai government," said an Everton
spokesman.
Newly-appointed Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has revealed he will not
stand in the way of any potential investors.
"I've said very loudly for four years that I have been looking for
investment for this club," Kenwright told the club's website.
"I don't think the club is ever for sale but if someone wanted to come in
with a cash injection I would be overjoyed."
JUNE 6
Thai PM 'eyes
Everton deal'
BBC Sport Online
Thailand Primie Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is reportedly keen to buy a
stake in Everton as well as Liverpool.
Thaksin's £65m offer for a 30% stake in the Anfield club is thought to be
in doubt but his consortium of businessmen are looking at other clubs as
well.
Thaksin was planning a state-sponsored lottery to fund the Liverpool deal
but recently shelved that idea.
Meanwhile, Thai company Chang Beer is reported to have won a three-year,
£1.5m deal to be Everton's shirt sponsor.
Chang Beer will take over from Keijan and Everton have invited the Thais
to find three players for the Goodison Park academy for next season.
The Toffees are also set to tour the Far East at the end of next season as
part of the deal.
Last month, Everton appointed Trevor Birch as their new chief executive
with the specific aim of cutting down the club's debts.
Birch, a former Liverpool player, says a move away from Goodison Park to
an alternative stadium must be considered as a way of dealing with
Everton's finances.
JUNE 5
Thais bullish on
Reds deal
BBC Sport Online
Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra insists his plan to buy a
stake in Liverpool is still on course.
Thaksin was forced to scrap plans for a special lottery to fund his £65m
move for a 30% stake in the club.
"As of today the negotiation with Liverpool is still on. I only withdrew
the lottery fund-raising plan.
"But I will come up with other means of fund-raising which will not affect
the people. There are many other methods for fund-raising," said Thaksin.
The Thai PM has said Liverpool have agreed in principle to sell a stake to
Thailand.
But he conceded that last-minute problems and checks of the club's
financial and legal standing mean a final signing may be delayed until
July.
Thaksin had originally indicated that he would buy the Liverpool stake
with his own money.
But the government later said it would be owned by a new company to be set
up under the government's Sports Authority of Thailand.
A £165m one-off state lottery was to have been used to purchase the stake,
with the rest being spent on prizes and administration charges.
But the plan was scrapped after fierce opposition from critics, who said
it would promote gambling and force the poor to part with their money.
A group of leading academics called for the proposed investment to be
declared illegal, claiming that it defied the Thai constitution.
JUNE 3
'Thai PM will use
own cash'
By Mike Hornby - Liverpool Echo
Thailand's billionaire prime minister said today that, if his country
refuses to buy a stake in Liverpool FC, he will do it himself.
His pledge came after protests in the capital Bangkok over plans to use
funds from a public lottery to buy a 30% share in the club.
Thaksin Shinawatra has sparked a fierce debate on gambling in the deeply
religious country and has been criticised by leading govern-ment figures,
including ex-Bangkok governor Chamlong Srimuang.
But the PM's spokesman Kakrapod Penkar told the ECHO today reports that
the lottery scheme had been scrapped were untrue.
"The PM is still keen to pursue the idea of a lottery, but has listened to
the people, particularly the former governor, and decided there is a lot
to be reconsidered.
"The private sector in Thailand is queuing up to take part in this deal,
but the PM is keen to keep part of it for the people.
"I spoke to him today and he said that, if the country doesn't want it, he
will buy the shares himself."
Negotiations at the Thai end are set to last another four weeks.
Public opinion in the Far East has turned against Shinawatra.
In a poll by the Nation newspaper in Bangkok, the number of people against
the deal has risen from 20.8% to 47.9%.
JUNE 2
Thais put lottery on
hold
BBC Sport Online
Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra is reconsidering staging a
special lottery to fund his £65m plan to buy a 30% stake in Liverpool.
The rethink has been forced on the government after growing opposition.
Spokesman Jakrapob Penkair said: "The government wanted to send a signal
that it is willing to reconsider the financing if it met with resistance.
"The government had anticipated such resistance. The plan to buy a stake
in Liverpool is still on track."
A leading Thai official had earlier dismissed reports that the bid for
Liverpool is being dropped.
"The deal is still on," deputy commerce minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal
said, although he admitted: "Discussions are expected to become more
difficult."
Thaksin had told the cabinet that he opted for the lottery as a way to
ensure the Thai public became involved in the purchase but that the
premier would consider other options, including private investment, in
pursuit of a stake in the Merseyside club.
A high-ranking government source told Thai business weekly Krungthep
Thurakit that the lottery for the bid -- estimated to cost between $100m
and $115m -- could be shelved.
"The plan to issue the lottery should be postponed," the unnamed source
was quoted as saying.
MAY 31
Opponents call for public campaign
to block Liverpool purchase
Associated Press
An activist group on Monday urged Thais to join hands to block a
government plan to buy a stake in English soccer club Liverpool through a
public lottery, saying it would only encourage gambling.
The Student Federation of Thailand, a group of university students, said
it would launch a signature campaign against the plan, which is the
brainchild of billionaire tycoon-turned-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The federation hopes to gather 50,000 signatures, said its
secretary-general Pichit Chaimongkol. Under the Thai constitution, a
government project must be reviewed by parliament if at least 50,000
people sign their opposition to it.
"It's unacceptable because it's an unwise use of people's money. If it
were a personal investment, nobody would care," Pichit said.
"You don't have to involve the lottos to promote local soccer industry.
There're many other ways. It would worsen the gambling problem in
Thailand."
Thailand has offered about US$115 million to buy the 30 percent stake, an
offer that Thaksin says is virtually in the bag and only the "due
diligence" financial scrutiny of the company remains to be completed.
The Reds, with an English record 18 titles, haven't lifted the league
trophy since 1990 and sorely need the cash to buy new players and build a
bigger stadium.
Thaksin had originally indicated that he would buy the Liverpool stake
with his own money. But the government later said it would be owned by a
new company to be set up under the government's Sports Authority of
Thailand.
The company would get its funds from a special one-time 10 billion baht
(US$250 million) state lottery.
MAY 25
Thais switch back to
Reds
By Tony Barratt - Liverpool Echo
A deal allowing the Thai Prime Minister to buy a stake in Liverpool FC
could be sealed within weeks, it was revealed today - just days after the
Thai consortium held talks with Everton chiefs.
An impasse between Liverpool and the Thais had held up the deal and
stopped it from being brought to a swift conclusion.
But the major sticking point - believed to be the number of
representatives the Thais would have on the Liverpool board - looks to
have been resolved.
Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra today revealed he is looking for his £65m
investment to be approved by the club inside the next six weeks.
He said the subject of representation on the club's board "is no longer a
problem", before adding: "The next step is to get teams of professionals
to analyse financial and legal issues."
Today's revelation comes soon after Mr Thaksin issued Reds' chiefs with an
ultimatum to bring matters to a head.
News of a possible agreement will come as a blow to rivals Everton who had
held tentative preliminary talks with Mr Thaksin's they atives at the
weekend.
MAY 23
Thai investors are linked to
three more Premiership football clubs
By Jan McGirk in Bangkok - Guardian
The continuing melodrama over possible Thai ownership of a large chunk
of Liverpool FC developed a few more tantalising plot lines yesterday as
three other Premiership clubs were reported to be linked to Bangkok
investment.
These moves - said to involve Everton, Manchester City and Fulham - come
in the wake of speculation about Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
motives for pursuing a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool, which will bring
him two board seats and full commercial rights in Asia. In a country that,
last week alone, broadcast no fewer than 55 hours of English football,
those rights could be very lucrative.
The Liverpool deal, which will not be finalised for six weeks, is also an
effective diversion from matters of more traditional concern to prime
ministers. Tomorrow, eight ministers from Mr Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai
("Thai Loves Thai") party face a no-confidence vote in parliament over
corruption allegations.
The expectation that ordinary Thai punters will buy lottery tickets to
fund half the £63m purchase price of the club has dominated headlines for
a fortnight.
Critics say the billionaire PM's bid is an offbeat ploy to boost his
popularity with youthful voters and couch potatoes in the run-up to an
election in January and, abroad, the sports negotiations have highlighted
Mr Thaksin's brutal drug-suppression campaign.
This led last year to the uninvestigated deaths of some 2,500 smalltime
speed dealers, many allegedly gunned down by motorcycle death squads of
undercover policemen. Amnesty International excoriated the Thai leader for
his "abhorrent attitude to criminal justice".
Steven Kelly, editor of Through the Wind and the Rain, a Liverpool fan
magazine, wrote : "We should have distanced ourselves from this guy from
day one ... [Mr Thaksin] doesn't look like the kind of character you
should be doing business with."
Other fans disparaged the Thai premier for being able to name only four
Liverpool players, and that with prodding from his aides.
Mr Thaksin , who gained 90 per cent approval in Thailand for his
high-profile war against drugs, portrayed his football deal as a welcome
diversion for Thailand's bored youth. He claimed Liverpool's popularity
would encourage youth to "come out and play" instead of abusing drugs.
"The performance of our football team is not good enough to be their
inspiration. I want to leapfrog ... to inspire them," Mr Thaksin told
reporters. He added: "Before my government came in you could buy drugs
like chewing gum. It was that easy."
Foreign interest in English teams is nothing new. Besides the Egyptian
entrepreneur, Mohamed al-Fayed, who owns part of Fulham, there is the
Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and the American
Malcolm Glazer, who owns a slice of Manchester United.
