Burmese military commander-in-chief Than Shwe was reportedly advised by his grandson to look into the possibility of buying the Manchester United football club. --LONDON - ENGLISH football giants Manchester United were once the target of a takeover by the Burmese military junta, according to an American diplomatic document revealed by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
A cable sent from the US embassy in Rangoon to Washington, details of which have been published on the website of British daily newspaper the Guardian, revealed military commander-in-chief Than Shwe was advised by his grandson before January 2009 to look into the possibility of buying United.
The cable said an offer of US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) was under consideration before being scrapped in favour of creating a new football league in the troubled Asian nation.
This proposal, which never became an offer to United's American-based owners the Glazer family, was reportedly motivated by a desire to draw attention away from domestic issues such as the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which led to around 140,000 deaths in 2008.
The Guardian quoted the cable as saying: 'One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer US$1 billion for Manchester United.
'The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Burma a league of its own.' -- AFP
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