The Sunday Times:
The former Thai prime minister who is poised to buy Manchester City football club could be extradited from Britain to face corruption charges in his home country. The Thai embassy in London has confirmed that a warrant will be issued for the arrest of Thaksin Shinawatra if he refuses to return to Thailand.
Thaksin, who was overthrown by a military coup in September, is understood to be only days away from taking control of the Premiership club in a deal valued at £81m. He is said to be lining up Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former England coach, as the club's new manager.
Inquiries by The Sunday Times have established that the financing of the deal is far from straightforward. The main shareholder in the company buying Manchester City is an obscure Bangkok property firm that is said to be "controlled" by Thaksin and his family, although he has no significant stake in it.
The property firm is understood to have received millions from the sale of Thaksin's Shin Corporation - a transaction that is under investigation for potential breaches of the law.
The Thai authorities have indicated that they wish to know whether the money being used in the Manchester City takeover came from the proceeds of alleged criminal activity.
"If that is the case, the ownership of the football club must be questioned," said Sunai Manomai-udom, head of the Thai justice ministry's department of special investigations.
Thaksin, a 57-year-old billionaire, claims the investigations into his and his family's financial affairs are without foundation and politically motivated. Many of his assets in Thailand have been frozen.
But his business dealings and chequered political record have caused concern in Britain. David Taylor, a Labour MP, raised the issue in the Commons last week. "If he passes the test that he is a fit and proper person to own a football club, then the Premier League's rules must be too lax," said Taylor. "He's a flaky foreign financier."
A former policeman, Thaksin built Shin Corporation into a giant conglomerate by exploiting a monopoly in the Thai mobile phone market. He used his wealth to bankroll his rise to political power as a populist "friend of the poor" taking over as prime minister in 2001.
His five-year premiership was often brutal - more than 2,500 people were shot dead by plain clothes policemen as part of a "war on drugs". After the 2004 Muslim insurgency his security forces waged a reprisal "dirty war" that left almost 100 unarmed captives dead.
It was the sale of the Shin Corporation to a Singapore government company that led to a wave of patriotic indignation which ended with a bloodless coup.
He fled to London and took up residence in a Mayfair flat. Thaksin previously attempted to buy Fulham football club and made a failed bid for Liverpool.
The Manchester City bid has proved far more concrete. The club, which does not own its ground, is valued relatively cheaply at about £21m, the same price Chelsea paid for its former player Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Two weeks ago Thaksin's newly created company UK Sports Investments (UKSIL) reached agreement with the Manchester City board to buy 55% of its shares and set about purchasing the extra 20% needed to take the club into private ownership. This weekend it effectively has 66% of the shares and is expected to pick up the remainder this week.
The Indie:
Football authorities are asking for more information from Government sources in future before deciding whether potential foreign owners should be allowed to take over English clubs. With Thaksin Shinawatra, the controversial former prime minister of Thailand, steadily increasing his haul of shares in Manchester City, football officials are aware of criticism that the various "fit and proper person" tests are proving inadequate safeguards.
One of Richard Caborn's last acts as Minister of Sport was to demand a meeting last week with representatives of the Football Association, Premier League and Football League to discuss concerns about the proliferation of foreign ownership. He said afterwards that he was happy with the current rules but added: "There can be no room for complacency, and everyone agreed that these rules must remain under constant review and be strengthened if necessary."
The Premier League made the point that the Government could provide useful information about some buyers, especially those with a high political profile like Thaksin and the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich. One Premier League representative said Government departments, including the Foreign Office and Department of Trade and Industry, have been told: "If you have any misgivings or information that would help us make an informed judgement about a prospective buyer, we'd appreciate file-sharing."
Thaksin, deposed as prime minister by a non-violent military coup last September, has had £870 million of assets frozen and faces charges of corruption at home. Thailand's foreign minister has said the source of the funds to buy City is "a mystery" and needs to be investigated. In exile in London, Thaksin was given until 26 July to go home and stand trial but refuses to do so, fearing for his safety.
If he were found guilty, the Premier League would want advice on how legitimate the conviction was before deciding it breached their fit and proper person test. "We have to make an objective judgement, it can't be a subjective or moral one," said a Premier League source.