Ugly fight for slice of the beautiful game

It’s hard to make sense of Dubai International Capital’s lengthy wrestle for control of Liverpool Football Club. The latest reports – and things seem to change on a daily, if not hourly basis – is that Tom Hicks, the club’s co-owner, has terminated all talks with DIC. Last week it looked as though DIC would settle for a 49 per cent share, leaving majority control with Hicks. Hicks was then angered after reading DIC only agreed to 49 per cent as a means to an eventual takeover.
So now you have one co-owner who is happy to sell, another who isn’t – and may struggle to have a working relationship with DIC. For its part, DIC, which thought it had a deal in place to fully acquire the club in February 2007, has now agreed to pay nearly the same amount for half as much. In gambling terms, they seem to have shown their hand.
There seems little sense in Dubai paying over the odds if they can’t have some control over policy. Hicks has nixed the idea of ‘rule by committee’, saying it is unworkable. Hicks must think he can make money out of the club. It’s just hard to see him making any better, and quicker, profit than simply taking Dubai’s cash.
It is a mess.