Is the new Soccernomics turning the English Premier League into the world's most international game or a legitimizing front for notorious world oligarchs?

Yesterday Tom Hicks and George Gillette, the American co-owners of the Liverpool Football Club, turned down an offer from the Dubai-based investment group DIC that would have paid them £200 million each for their respective stakes in England's most historic sporting franchise. The decision to turn down what would have amounted to a £25 million return on a 13-month investment has been criticized by fans and financiers alike and left many wondering why Bush crony and Texas Ranger owner Hicks-who apparently refused the sale on his own-is so intent on keeping his place as one of the EPL's most high-profile foreign owners, considering the company he stands to keep.