Burmese junta ´pondered United purchase´

English football giants Manchester United were once the target of a takeover by Myanmar’s military junta, according to an American diplomatic document revealed by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

A cable sent from the US embassy in Rangoon to Washington, details of which have been published on the website of British daily newspaper the Guardian, revealed military commander-in-chief Than Shwe was advised by his grandson before January 2009 to look into the possibility of buying United.

The cable said an offer of one billion US dollars (634 million pounds) was under consideration before being scrapped in favour of creating a new Burmese football league.

This proposal, which never became an offer to United’s American-based owners the Glazer family, was reportedly motivated by a desire to draw attention away from domestic issues such as the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which led to around 140,000 deaths in 2008.

The Guardian quoted the cable as saying: “One well-connected source reports that the grandson wanted Than Shwe to offer one billion (dollars) for Manchester United.

“The senior general thought that sort of expenditure could look bad, so he opted to create for Myanmar a league of its own.”