LONDON: 21 Dec 2007

NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal on Thursday bought a 20 per cent stake, worth 1.6 million pound, in Britain's Championship football club Queens Park Rangers. Mittal, fifth richest man in the world, will join Formula One supremos Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore on the board of the club through his representative and son-in-law Amit Bhatia.

"This investment in QPR by the Mittal family is a great stepping stone towards the future development of the club and supports the ambition of the current shareholders to reach the Premier League in the near future," a statement by the club said.

"The new capital being invested in QPR will help fund the programme that is needed to help us achieve this target." Bhatia said the "family is excited about becoming involved with Queens Park Rangers Football Club."

"As a family, we love sport and particularly enjoy English football, and alongside Bernie and Flavio, we hope that we can improve the club's performance, with the ultimate ambition of a place in the Premier League," Bhatia said.

By shamsheer (TofI)