17/08/2007
NEWS STORY
Renault boss Flavio Briatore looks set to take control of west London football club Queens Park Rangers.
Speaking to British tabloid The Sun, club chairman, Gianni Paladini, said: "Mr Briatore wants to do for QPR what Mohamed Al Fayed has done for Fulham and turn us into a Premier League club.
"It is a dream come true for all the fans and saves this club from liquidation," he added.
Queens Park Rangers, which was founded in 1882, currently plays in the Football League Championship. The club's major honours include the League Cup in 1967, the yean in which they finishes as Division 3 champions. They made it to the FA Cup final in 1982, however, having drawn the match, even after extra time, they were beaten they were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur.
It's understood that Briatore will get things underway at Loftus Road by paying off the club's £17m debt, with The Sun claiming that he will invest a further £100m over the next three years.
Briatore had previously expressed an interest in buying Chelsea, the football club not the entire area of London, along with Bernie Ecclestone, but lost out to Roman Abramovich.