Qadaffi almost bought Man United — reports

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi stands outside a tent erected at his Bab Al-Aziziya residence in Tripoli on April 10, 2011 during a meeting with a high-ranking African Union delegation trying to negotiate a truce between Qaddafi’s forces and rebels seeking to oust him. (AFP)

LONDON: Manchester United was “hours away” from being bought in 2004 by Libyan ex-leader Col. Qadaffi, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
The deal for a 29.9 percent stake in the club — being sold by Irish racing businessmen John Magnier and JP McManus — was within “hours” of being finalized, but the vendors and Qadaffi could not agree a price.
The share in Manchester United came up for sale after Magnier and McManus fell out with team manager Alex Ferguson over ownership of the horse Rock of Gibraltar. Financier Mehmet Dalman was put in charge of selling the share, which would have made any new owner the effective controller of the world-famous football club.
Dalman told The Sunday Times that he flew to Tripoli by “borrowed private jet” to try to complete the sale to Qadaffi. He said: “The deal was “hours” from being signed, but in the end Qadaffi would not pay the asking price, so instead he bought the Perugia football team in Italy.
Qadaffi was killed in 2011 following the overthrow of his regime.