Abramovich is currently under investigation for the way in which he accumulated his fortune but the lady-boys saviour is linked with human rights abuses.
Merseyside's druggie community will be nervous:
"Thailand's human rights record has been a particular concern recently following a government-led "drugs war" that has seen several thousand drugs suspects killed by law enforcement officers," said a spokesperson for Amnesty International. "In one three-month period alone last year, a staggering 2,245 people were killed according to official statistics. We have called on the Thai government to allow independent investigations into this worrying wave of killings."
Rumours of the Thais' interest in Liverpool prompted an editorial in the latest issue of the fanzine Through the Wind and Rain to state: "We should have distanced ourselves from this guy from day one. If we had an ounce of humanity we should have said no immediately."
So that's why the deal went ahead then.
"He doesn't sound like a character you should be doing business with," said the fanzine's editor Steven Kelly. "It's dragging morality into something where the majority of people say: 'As long as the team is good, I don't care.'"
For his part the Thai PM had this to say:
"I've been a fan of Liverpool for some time. They are the tops in Thailand so it makes sense for us to be associated with such a brand. Lots of our products need a brand and Liverpool is one that we can use on the world market."
Bloomberg reports that public money will fund the deal.
``The predominant funding will be from public funds,'' Jakrapob Penkair, Thaksin's spokesman, said in the Thai capital, Bangkok. He declined to give details.
The proposal to use Thai public comes at a time when Thaksin is facing criticism for selling state companies. Employee protests forced the government to scrap an initial share offering for the nation's biggest power utility in March.
``The public would like to know in whose interest is all this being done,'' said Akrapol Sorasuchart, deputy secretary general of the opposition Democrat Party. ``Many of the football clubs in England are in financial trouble. To put public money in such ventures is risky. What kind of returns are you expecting?''
Liverpool will decide on the offer by the end of next week and possibly as early as this week, Jakrapob said. In return for the investment, Thailand would get a soccer academy and rights to sell Liverpool merchandise in Asia, he said.
``I'm not sure about the wisdom of committing the Thai government to a business venture in football,'' Peter Velappan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, which runs the sport in the continent, said in an interview.
The project is doomed according to this bizarre quote from one know nowt city suit:
``When people watch Liverpool play on TV they will feel like they are rooting for Thailand,'' said Mark Matthews, head of Thai equity sales at CLSA Ltd., the Asian equity unit of France's Credit Lyonnais SA. ``And if that in turn boosts confidence and consumption, well there you go.''
