Thai premier still eyeing Fulham buy despite Al Fayed's 'no sale'

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reiterated his interest in buying English football club Fulham but said it was up to owner Muhammed Al Fayed to decide whether to sell.

"It is a sensitive issue, I phoned him (Al Fayed) yesterday and that's it," Thaksin told reporters Thursday, declining to elaborate on the talks with the Egyptian-born tycoon who also owns London's Harrods department store.

"I am still interested but it is his right to sell or not to sell," he said. "We think this team is interesting, we think the Premier League is interesting, we are interested in general."

Thaksin, a self-made billionaire who founded a telecommunications empire before entering politics, expressed his interest Wednesday after a trip to England where he was at Old Trafford to see Fulham beat Manchester United 3-1.

The premier said that Fulham, now fifth in the league, was a "rising star" and not overly expensive.

Al Fayed, the London club's chairman and owner, quickly ruled out a sale of the club which he said he loved "passionately" and declared he would not even consider discussing offers.

Fulham confirmed that Al Fayed and Thaksin, who have known each other for a number of years, had met but that they only discussed a possible collaboration between Fulham and the Thai Football Association (TFA), not a sale.

TFA chairman Wijit Ketkaew supported Thaksin's proposal, saying in newspaper reports Thursday that such a move would benefit Thai soccer as local players could train in England and enter an exchange program with Fulham.

Tawatchai Satjakul, the manager of Thailand's national soccer team and an MP in Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party, said he was assigned to look into taking over a football club.

"We'd want to own more than 50 percent of the shares so that we can have administrative power," he told the Nation newspaper.

"This would benefit Thai soccer because, when we own the club, we could send our players to join the club and play in the Premiership more easily."

Thaksin came in for some flak Thursday for declaring his interest in the team, with a newspaper editorial saying his remarks had embarrassed his friend Al Fayed who he reportedly said was "bored" with the club and wanted to sell.

"Politics and sports can be a bad mix," The Nation newspaper said.

"If Thaksin has good intentions about improving Thai soccer, the billions of baht needed to acquire Fulham would be better spent on our national team, youth development and football grounds," it said.

Fulham's future has been shrouded in uncertainty since the club moved out of Craven Cottage, its base for 105 years, in May 2002, so that the ground could be redeveloped into a 30,000 all-seater stadium.

That project was scrapped after the costs involved soared.

Subsequent discussions on a ground-share scheme with Chelsea broke down in April and Al Fayed's commitment to the club was questioned following his decision to give up British residency and live in Switzerland.