Stories tagged with football
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Rumours Swirl Over Sale of Manchester City Football Club
After just one season as owner of Manchester City football team, Thai ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is rumoured to be looking to offload the club. His reasons for selling likely stem from the fact that the Thai government has frozen 800 million pounds of his assets.
The UK Daily Mail reported that Thaksin has contacted a well-connected financial intermediary in the past month about finding a buyer for the club. It appears that two unnamed parties have been contacted in the matter, but the UK Daily Mail admitted that Thaksin may just be testing the waters for a future sale.
Thaksin bought Manchester City FC for 80 million pounds a year ago, but since then the Thai courts have frozen assets of his worth some 800 million pounds pending the verdict in his trial for corruption during his time as prime minister. Thaksin may be willing to dump the football club to free up some cash.
Manchester City FC denied the rumours, stating “it is not true that Dr Thaksin Shinawatra is trying to sell Manchester City, nor that he is looking for a buyer.”
Posted by: Andrew on 12 Aug 2008, 17:49 -
Laguna Phuket to Host ESPN STAR Personalities
Members of the ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) football broadcasting team are scheduled to visit Laguna Phuket from 25-27 July in support of Laguna’s CSR initiative that’s aimed at improving conditions in schools in neighbouring Phang-nga province.
This event follows on the highly successful inaugural ESPN STAR Sports Charity Golf Tournament at Laguna Phuket held in March of 2007, when THB 500,000 was raised for Phuket’s Life Home Project in support of HIV-positive women and children.
The ESS team are enthusiastic to repeat the earlier success.
The proceeds from this year’s event will be used to improve the heath and safety standards of a school in economically disadvantaged Phang-nga province. This project comes under the auspices of the Laguna Phuket Social Committee, which manages the resort’s CSR activities.
The star-studded line-up of ESS team members visiting Laguna Phuket includes STAR Sports Nokia Football Crazy presenter Andy Penders and the football analyst PJ Roberts. ESPN Football Focus presenter John Dykes and Here We Go’s Andrew Leci of Here We Go will join a number of in-house football experts, such Paul Masefield, Jamie Reeves, Shebby Singh and Derek Currie. Also participating are STAR Sports presenters Paula Malai Ali, Drinie Aguilar, Ally Begg, Jamie Yeo, Christy Simson, Uday Joshi and Joy Navkin.
Posted by: Andrew on 21 Jun 2008, 10:48 -
Friendly match between Iraq and Thailand
Iraq has arranged to play a friendly football match in Bangkok against Thailand on May 25, according to the Asian Football Confederation website.
The match will essentially be a warm up for both nations in preparation for their forthcoming World Cup 2010 qualifiers in June.
Asian Champions Iraq, in Group 1, already have a qualifying point from their opening two games and will take on Australia on June 1 in Brisbane.
Thailand, on the other hand, have zero points after their first two encounters in Group 2, being defeated by Japan and Oman. Thailand's next qualifier will be against Bahrain on June 2.
Thailand's Football Association have confirmed that the game will take place in Bangkok on May 25 along with another friendly against Syria which will be played a week before on May 17.
The 19 FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa between 11th June and 11th July, 2010 and will be the very first World Cup tournament to be staged on the African continent.
Posted by: Andrew on 02 May 2008, 19:10 -
Thai squad ready for England training
The Thai national football team has begun their training for the 2010 World Cup qualification and is looking forward to training in England with Manchester City before their opener against Japan in Tokyo in February.
The team has been preparing at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok and is looking forward to training with Manchester City Football Club, which is currently owned by the former Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
The trip is the brainchild of Mr Thaksin which will be sponsored by his firm, Thaicom Foundation.
The president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), Worawi Makudi, has agreed that the training in England will help the squad prepare better for their group phase of Asia's qualification.
‘We hope the training in Manchester will be useful’ says Worawi. He goes on to say ‘playing Japan first is tough so we must be well-prepared.’
Thailand coach, Chanvit Phalajivin, is also upbeat with the training in England and would like his players see how professional players go about their daily training. The winter climate in the UK will also help the Thai squad to acclimatize to the cool Japanese weather.
The top two teams of all five groups will reach the World Cup Finals. As part of Asian qualifying, Thailand are grouped with Japan, Oman and Bahrain.
The game against Japan will be in Tokyo on February 6 and Worawi and Chanvit believe their men are good enough to come away with a point.
Three of the Thai national football side already have contracts with Manchester City - Suree Sukha, Teerasil Dangda and Kiatprawut Saiwaew's - which began on January 1.
Posted by: Andrew on 09 Jan 2008, 03:11 -
Asian Cup 2007: Games Started
The Asian Cup 2007 kicked off on Saturday with the opening match between co-host Thailand and Irag at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok. Thailand earned an essential point in a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Iraq in the Asian Cup's Group A whereas Australia grabbed a first point from their Asian Cup debut against Oman in injuries time.
In today's fixtures, Japan are schedule to play Qatar for their first match in Hanoi. There's much more to come, find out match fixtures and follow the results here.
Posted by: Watt on 09 Jul 2007, 14:31 -
Man City Takeover: Money Matters
Manchester City football club's board of director is backing the £81.6m takeover bid from former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra despite the freezing of his assets in Thailand. Thaksin has gone on record as saying that the events in Thailand won't affect Man City deal. However Thailand authorities are set to investigate the source of the funds behind Thaksin's offer.
The BBC is reporting that Sven-Goran Eriksson will be the new Man City manager. Meanwhile The Nation are questioning where the money comes from and whether the Manchester City deal can help Thaksin's flagging fortunes?.
Posted by: Watt on 25 Jun 2007, 14:24 -
Flying Dutch Men Outclass Thailand
Thailand could learn some football lessons from a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in a friendly match at Rajamangala stadium yesterday. Around 20,000 fans were entertained at the stadium in Bangkok in a high spirited atmosphere. The Bangkok Post has a match report and you can find a post-match review from Thai and Dutch head coach here.
The Dutch team played their second friendly match with Thailand in their Asia tour during a break from the Euro 2008 qualifying round while Thailand are preparing for the Asian cup 2007 next month.
Posted by: Watt on 07 Jun 2007, 11:38 -
Liverpool Football Stars are Coming to Thailand
From the Bangkok Post: Tesco Lotus are bringing two Liverpool football legends to Thailand in early June to participate in the Tesco Lotus Bangkok Masters Tournament. Ian Rush and John Barnes will play in the All Stars Team. Tesco Lotus have also arranged for the pair to conduct football clinics for local schoolchildren at Tesco Lotus Kamtieng store in Chiang Mai on June 1, Lad Phrao store in Bangkok on June 2, and Phuket store on June 5.
Posted by: Toony on 24 May 2007, 10:57