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Manchester United try to stop takeover
Some Manchester United fans are still trying to stop Malcolm Glazer's $1.47 billion takeover of the world's richest soccer team.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner was expected to announce Monday that his shares in the club topped the 75 percent mark needed for complete control of the team. His company, Red Football Ltd., told the London Stock Exchange at the close Friday he owned 74.81 percent. At the critical 75 percent threshold, Glazer could take the club private. The fan group Shareholders United is calling for a boycott of Manchester United sponsors, and is planning demonstrations at the FA Cup final against Arsenal on May 21. "We won't do anything that endangers safety, but they may have to draft in the army to police the match," said Oliver Houston, a vice chairman of Shareholders United. Reaction to Glazer's takeover has been mostly negative. Fans fear Glazer will sell Old Trafford stadium and raise prices. They also oppose foreign ownership. Glazer told the stock exchange Friday he would borrow $490 million to fund the buyout. He also said the bid includes $503 million of his own money, and another $509 million to be generated by issuing preferred securities to large investors. "His plans are far too aggressive for the club and are doomed to failure," said Sean Bones, another vice chairman of Shareholders United. The group said in the last few days its membership has grown from 20,000 to 30,000. "I think it may take one or two years, but I do think Glazer will be defeated," Bones said. Bones also is asking fans to boycott the club's large sponsors: Nike, Vodafone, Anheuser-Busch and Audi. "We want to split the club from the brand," Bones said. "We feel Malcolm Glazer has bought the brand, but not the football club. "We don't want him here. He won't be given a chance. We don't like Malcolm Glazer, we don't like what he stands for." Meanwhile, assistant Manchester United coach Carlos Queiroz said manager Alex Ferguson has no plans to leave the club. The 63-year-old Ferguson, the most successful manager in English soccer, canceled a weekly news conference Friday and hasn't spoken publicly about the deal. "Sir Alex is not considering his future. That's rubbish. I have spoken to him and he is fine," Queiroz said Sunday. Glazer has at least one defender — Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson. He termed reaction to the American's takeover "hysterical." "I have watched with some distaste what has gone on outside Old Trafford," Gibson said. "I can't see that it's football to burn an effigy of a man that no one knows and has never met."
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