- Joined
- Jan 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1,746
- Points
- 0
Than Shwe thought about buying Man U
LONDON: The commander in chief of Myanmar's armed forces is apparently such a big fan of England's Manchester United football club that he once considered offering US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) to buy it.
General Than Shwe was urged by his grandson to mount a takeover bid, according to a cable from the US embassy in Yangon, revealed by WikiLeaks, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported.
'One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer
US$1 billion for Manchester United,' said a June 2009 cable to Washington. 'The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own.'
The proposal had come not long after Cyclone Nargis swept through the country in May 2008, killing 140,000 people. At the time, Myanmar had angered the United Nations with its 'unacceptably slow' response to the disaster, The Guardian said.
The leaked cables reveal the Myanmar regime was thought to be using football to distract its population from ongoing political and economic problems, it reported.
But eventually, Gen Than Shwe decided that making a bid for Man United might 'look bad', given his country's dire straits at the time.
Forbes magazine's valuation of the club last year indicated that
US$1 billion would have been enough to acquire more than the 50 per cent needed for a controlling interest in the club.
That meant the going price for the club was exactly the same as the amount for aid for food, agriculture and housing for the three years after the cyclone, as estimated by international agencies.
Eventually Gen Than Shwe ordered a new multimillion-dollar national football league to be created instead.
The cable revealed that in January last year, selected Myanmar business people were told that Gen Than Shwe had 'chosen' them to be the owners of the new professional soccer teams.
The informant, a top executive at one of the sponsor companies, said the owners were responsible for paying all costs, including team salaries, housing, transportation, uniform costs and advertising for the new league.
In addition, the owners must build new stadiums in their respective regions by next year, at an estimated cost of US$1 million per stadium.
LONDON: The commander in chief of Myanmar's armed forces is apparently such a big fan of England's Manchester United football club that he once considered offering US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) to buy it.
General Than Shwe was urged by his grandson to mount a takeover bid, according to a cable from the US embassy in Yangon, revealed by WikiLeaks, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported.
'One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer
US$1 billion for Manchester United,' said a June 2009 cable to Washington. 'The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own.'
The proposal had come not long after Cyclone Nargis swept through the country in May 2008, killing 140,000 people. At the time, Myanmar had angered the United Nations with its 'unacceptably slow' response to the disaster, The Guardian said.
The leaked cables reveal the Myanmar regime was thought to be using football to distract its population from ongoing political and economic problems, it reported.
But eventually, Gen Than Shwe decided that making a bid for Man United might 'look bad', given his country's dire straits at the time.
Forbes magazine's valuation of the club last year indicated that
US$1 billion would have been enough to acquire more than the 50 per cent needed for a controlling interest in the club.
That meant the going price for the club was exactly the same as the amount for aid for food, agriculture and housing for the three years after the cyclone, as estimated by international agencies.
Eventually Gen Than Shwe ordered a new multimillion-dollar national football league to be created instead.
The cable revealed that in January last year, selected Myanmar business people were told that Gen Than Shwe had 'chosen' them to be the owners of the new professional soccer teams.
The informant, a top executive at one of the sponsor companies, said the owners were responsible for paying all costs, including team salaries, housing, transportation, uniform costs and advertising for the new league.
In addition, the owners must build new stadiums in their respective regions by next year, at an estimated cost of US$1 million per stadium.
