Mittal moves up football’s rich list

Roman Abramovich, Britain's second wealthiest man, has tumbled from the top of British football's rich list to a humbling third place, following his fortune plummeting by 3.38 billion pounds, reports Vijay Dutt.

Roman Abramovich, Britain's second wealthiest man, has tumbled from the top of British football's rich list to a humbling third place, following his fortune plummeting by 3.38 billion pounds.

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To add insult to the injury inflicted on his wallet, a fellow Premier League club owner and a part owner of a Championship club have overtaken Abramovich (£7b).

According to the list, compiled for FourFourTwo magazine, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the new owner of Manchester City, who FFT says has a personal fortune of £15bn, is now No. 1, while the second place is occupied by Lakshmi Mittal, worth £12.5bn, who joined Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore in investing in the Queen's Park Rangers.

Joe Lewis of Tottenham fame is fourth on the list, valued at £2.5bn, with Ecclestone is fifth (£2.4bn), followed by Arsenal shareholders Stan Kroenke (£2.245bn) and Alisher Usmanov (£1.5bn).

David Beckham retains his place as the richest player associated with British football.

The LA Galaxy midfielder, on loan at AC Milan, has a fortune estimated at £125m, three times more than Michael Owen (£40m) and Wayne Rooney (£35m). Beckham is 38th in the overall list, while England's head coach, Fabio Capello, is the best-placed manager, at No. 73, with a fortune estimated at £25m. Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson is at No. 78, on £22m.

Top five owners: 1. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Manchester City, £15bn; 2. Lakshmi Mittal and family, Queen's Park Rangers, £12.5bn; 3. Roman Abramovich, Chelsea, £7bn; 4. Joe Lewis, Tottenham Hotspur, £2.5bn, 5. Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone, Queen's Park Rangers, £2.4bn