The exiled former leader of Thailand has been linked to the English Premier League team in a deal worth US$195 million.
Crystal Palace has confirmed that Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is in talks to buy the English Premier League football club.
The club’s official Twitter account said Thaksin was “at the negotiating table”, adding that he “may” once more become the owner of a Premier League team.
The news comes 11 years after Thaksin, now 69, sold another English club, Manchester City, to Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi in a deal worth an estimated £210 million (US$270 million). Thaksin had bought Manchester City just a year earlier for £81 million.
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Crystal Palace is currently partly owned by Steve Parish, who has been the club’s chairman since 2010.
News reports have said that if the deal goes through, Thaksin will assign Miti Tiyapairat, the son of a former speaker in the Thai parliament and long-time Thaksin ally Yongyuth Tiyapairat, to run the club.
“There have been negotiations about price, management, and some other details, which should be finalised soon. The deal is about £150 million,” Miti, 33, reportedly told the television channel ONE31.
Miti has previous experience of running Chiang Rai Football Club, the local team of his native province.
He is the secretary general of the Thai Raksa Chart party. In March, Thailand’s constitutional court ordered the party be dissolved following its controversial nomination of the Thai king’s sister, Princess Ubolratana, as its prime ministerial candidate.
Traditionally, the Thai monarchy is meant to be above politics. As the secretary general of the Thai Raksa Chart, Miti has been barred from Thai politics for 10 years.
In March, he attended the wedding of Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra at the Rosewood Hong Kong hotel, along with other former members of the Thai Raksa Chart.
Crystal Palace’s stadium at Selhurst Park, London, is in a convenient location for Thaksin, who maintains a residence in the British capital – along with homes in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.
News of the deal comes after the Thaksin-backed Phue Thai party failed to gain a majority of parliamentary seats in the Thai election. It was the first time a Thaksin-backed party had failed to do so since he led the Thai Rak Thai party to a landslide victory in 2001. He was ousted in a 2006 coup following allegations of corruption.
Thaksin’s net worth is estimated at US$1.9 billion by Forbes, which this week ranked him as the 19th richest Thai person.
