Xamax owner to end hunger strike
Football club owner Bulat Chagaev has accepted that he will be tried in Neuchâtel and said that he wants to end his hunger strike, his lawyer announced on Thursday.
This content was published on February 9, 2012 - 20:46The Chechen businessman is charged with fraud and mismanagement of the Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club. Chagaev bought the club last year; officials began investigating his suspicious business activities last November.
Chagaev was arrested in Geneva on January 26 of this year, just hours after the club was declared bankrupt and dropped out of the Swiss Super League.
Before that, the league had revoked Xamax’s licence because of suspected fraud and a failure by the club to prove that it could meet its financial obligations. Its debts are estimated to be at least SFr8 million ($8.7 million).
Chagaev’s lawyer told the media he would ask Neuchâtel authorities whether Chagaev can be released on bail. The Geneva authorities have refused because they consider him a flight risk.
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