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.
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The 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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Xamax owner to be prosecuted in Neuchâtel
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Chagaev, the Chechen businessman who bought the football club last year, is reportedly on hunger strike in prison in Geneva. Officials in Neuchâtel and Geneva, where Chagaev’s trading company has an office, opened investigations into Chagaev’s business activities last November. He was arrested in Geneva on January 26 of this year, just hours after the club…
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Xamax was stripped of its licence on Wednesday and effectively kicked out of the league over allegations of financial misdeeds less than a year after being taken over by Chechen businessman Bulat Chagaev. Chagaev says he will appeal against the “repugnant” decision. At a press conference in Zurich Swiss Football League (SFL) chairman Heinrich Schifferle…
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Bulat Chagaev was detained by authorities in Geneva, who had been investigating him for suspected fraud, for “financial mismanagement”. Hours earlier, Xamax said they would file for bankruptcy, then were formally declared bankrupt by a court in canton Neuchâtel. The two-time Swiss champion will drop out of the Swiss Super League midseason. Xamax’s season of…
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Football: a game where two 11-member teams try to push a ball into the opposing team’s goal, using any part of the body except their hands and arms. This simple recipe has helped make it the most popular sport in the world. (All pictures: Reuters/Keystone)
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