TWO years ago it was Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire, who changed the face of football with his takeover of Chelsea and subsequent £210 million buying spree.

Now Saadi al-Gaddafi, the 31-year-old son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator, has confirmed that he too is looking to buy an English team. The revelation should make some clubs sit up. He has a reputed £4 billion to spend.

The Tripoli-born Saadi led an audacious, but unsuccessful, Libyan bid for the 2010 World Cup, with the promise of new stadiums and hotels.

Saadi, who is also a member of the Italian team Perugia, also helped to negotiate Libya’s purchase of a 7.5 per cent stake in the Italian giant Juventus.

The choice of club is “very sensitive”, he told the International Herald Tribune. But Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are believed to be among the front runners.

The British football establishment, he added, was still coming to terms with the ownership of Chelsea by Abramovich and Fulham by Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods.

“It’s like the Anglican Church,” says Gaddafi. “They don’t want foreigners to take control.”

Putin in check

GARRY KASPAROV seems cheerful for a man vowing to stop Vladimir Putin from getting a third term in office. “People say it’s dangerous,” the retired grandmaster said at a party. “I haven’t met him. I’ve come across enough KGB chiefs in my time: I don’t need to meet another.”

Six plays in a day

KEVIN SPACEY’S Old Vic theatre is to audition for 50 aspiring writers, directors and actors to devise, produce and stage six ten-minute plays over 24 hours in June. Talking about the possibilities of the round-the-clock concept, Spacey said: “This is an exciting opportunity to create work for the Old Vic.”

Ps

Tom Cruise has tipped Scarlett Johansson for a role in the fourth Indiana Jones film after working with her on Mission Impossible 3. Hollywood sources say that he introduced her to the director Steven Spielberg and suggested that she play opposite Harrison Ford in the forthcoming film.

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