Manchester City signs up Thai players in pre-election strike

"Manchester City has signed up the Thai international footballers Suree Sukkha, Kiatprawut Saivaew and Teerasilp Dsangda and our world famous Manchester City Academy will open a centre in Thailand to help produce Thai football stars of the future," said team manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at the signing ceremony held at Bangkok's posh Conrad Hotel.

Observers have questioned the timing of the sign-up, noting that the Thai footballers would not be able to play for the Club until January. 

With Thailand scheduled to hold a general election on December 23, the outcome of which will determine whether Thaksin can return "safely" to the country, there is little doubt that Manchester City's local recruiting was linked to local politics.

"I think everyone knows the motives," said Wootinon Boonwanit, a sports writer for the Siam Rath newspaper. 

Thaksin, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon who was prime minister of Thailand between 2001 to 2006, was deposed by a military coup on September 19 of last year, while attending the United Nations annual Security Council meeting in New York.

He has spent much of the past year in London, keeping himself in the Thai news through his much-publicized purchase of the ailing Manchester City Club, a first for football-crazed Thailand.  

  Eriksson used the signing ceremony in Bangkok to sing the praises of his new boss, former Thai premier Thaksin who bought the football club four months ago.

 "Since I joined the club in July, the transformation under Doctor Thaksin Shinawatra has been nothing short of amazing," said Eriksson.

 Manchester City is currently ranked third in England's football premiership, a performance that has been attributed in part to Thaksin's deep pockets in bringing in old and new talent to the club, including hiring Eriksson as manager.

 Thaksin, in a video presentation aired at the signing ceremony, made the most of the publicity.

 "When I was your prime minister I ran a government that promoted and defended free and fair elections," he said. "As the December elections approach, I hope the military junta and the next government will do the same."

   Thaksin, whom Thai authorities are seeking to extradite from England to face corruption charges, has said he will only return to  to Thailand after the December election, depending on its outcome. 

   He is allegedly supporting the People's Power Party (PPP) in the polls.

 But Thaksin insisted in his video presentation that "my main reasons for speaking to today is not politics.

 "Once I had the chance to manage the club, I have set my mind from the beginning that as a Thai patriot, I want to see Thai youth standing at the forefront as international professional players," he said of the decision to hire on three Thai players. 

   "The signing of these three players is the pinnacle of the campaign and also part of the strategy of the club," Thaksin said. "Now the club has a strategy to recruit talented players form Asia to strengthen the team."

   Eriksson, on his trip to Thailand, was accompanied by Sun Ji-hai, a Chinese footballer who has played for the Manchester City Club for the past five years.

 Thaksin has plans to turn the Manchester City Club into a "global brand," which he will do by recruiting more players from Asia and by boosting football skills in Asia at the Manchester City Academy to be set up in Thailand at an unspecified date.

 "At the academy, kids will be taught how to play football correctly and according to international standards, but I did not intend the academy be only for Thais. I want this academy to develop to be the centre for football training and knowledge for all the South-east Asia region."

   Thaksin viewed himself as a leader of regional, if not global status, in the last years of his premiership, before his sudden ouster.//dpa