Soccer-Arsenal not for sale but chairman will meet billionaire

LONDON, Sep 10 (Reuters) Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has ruled out following the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool by selling out to foreign owners.

''The major shareholders have no intention of selling and wouldn't welcome an offer,'' Hill-Wood told the BBC today.

However he did not rule out talking to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who bought a 14.58 per cent stake in the club last month from former vice-chairman David Dein.

''We will have a dialogue with any principal or major shareholder,'' Hill-Wood said. ''If they've got some sensible proposals we'll listen to them.'' Dein, who believes Arsenal need foreign investment to compete for the game's big prizes, quit the club in April because of his support for US billionaire Stan Kroenke. Kroenke bought a 12 per cent stake in the club.

Hill-Wood said he had no problem with foreign investors in the Premier League but said Arsenal would continue to be run on traditional business lines.

''We have always run Arsenal as a business and kept within reasonable bounds,'' he said.

''Most of them are investment people and they're not buying into clubs because they have the passion for the local team they have supported since they were two years old.

''They think that football and the Premier League is an attractive investment and they want a return on that.

''All this nonsense about needing a billionaire to put a whole lot of money in to help shore up the annual deficit is not going to happen -- it's lunacy.'' REUTERS RAR RN0010