Foreign owners 'good for English game'

Britain's richest man and Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has defended the foreign ownership of Premier League clubs, saying it's good for the English game. The billionaire said the growing influence of overseas shareholders was not stripping the sport of its identity in England. And while he praised Arsenal's impressive start to the Premier League season, he said he reserved the right to criticise the club's board if he felt they weren't getting things right. The Rsian, who has a fortune of more than £13bn, has spent more than £200m over the last six years, building a 30% stake in the Gunners. He has been involved in an uneasy stand-off with the club's American majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, accusing him and chief executive Ivan Gazidis of failing to invest sufficient money in Arsene Wenger's team despite significant reserves of cash. Usmanov has stated he would like to take full control of Arsenal in the event of Kroenke ever deciding to sell. Asked whether it was right that so many top English clubs were now foreign-owned, he said: "It's an artificial question which somebody wants to put on the table.