Prince Faisal interest splits Liverpool’s owners

The Liverpool boardroom feud descended further into farce over the weekend as Tom Hicks challenged his fellow American owner George Gillett to put his money where his mouth was and sell his stake in the Premier League club. Hicks said that he would not exercise his right, as agreed between the pair, to veto the sale of his estranged business partner's share should he wish to sell up.

Hicks' actions come after a week in which Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia had broken cover and admitted that he was indeed interested in buying into the club, having been seen in Gillett's company at a recent home game (above), at any level: "His Highness's shareholding could go from anything from nought to 100 per cent" an advisor of the property and oil-rich prince said.

But as Barry Didato went on to say last week, the Saudi businessman does not want to become embroiled in the disintegrating relationship between Hicks and Gillett or the lending racking up by the co-chairmen since their 2007 purchase of the club. "He would not want to get involved in [the pair's problematic relationship], he is not a marriage counsellor.

"[The prince] cannot be seen as a solution to the debt or problems in the existing relationship between the owners. The debt has to be at a manageable level before Prince Faisal would invest and the current level is high," Didato said. "He cannot be looked to as someone who is going to clean up the balance sheet - Gillett has to deal with this."

Whether Hicks will actually allow his compatriot to walk away from the club they spent £229m on together remains to be seen. Last year he used his veto to prevent Dubai International Capital from taking over the other 50 per cent of the club that Gillett controls. The latest news has been greeted with predictable dismay by supporters' groups.

"Tom Hicks and George Gillett have once again shown that they are not the custodians they promised to be, or that the club needs," Spirit of Shankly said. "Rather than work together to move Liverpool Football Club forward, they are more interested in their own egos and making as much money from the club as possible." ·