Xu and Jiang Renjie, the vice-mayor of Suzhou, were both convicted of accumulating huge private wealth corruptly and executed by the Chinese authorities on 19 July 2011. Lander is reported to have issued a statement in response that Gao has never been investigated for improper conduct. That is a recognition of different legal standards around the world and that the ownership of English football clubs is now a fiendishly complex international business. The president’s injunction was followed by an immediate dash to buy clubs overseas, and by Chinese Super League clubs paying vast fees and wages to attract players including Carlos Tevez and Oscar. Liebherr inherited the club when her father, Markus, an industrial magnate, died in 2010, having bought Saints out of administration the previous year.

Source: The Guardian August 15, 2017 19:51 UTC