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Ex-Aston Villa owner Tony Xia ‘detained for six months before arrest’: report
- Caixin reports that Xia’s family say he was detained by Chinese authorities last July before arrest in January
- Chinese businessman bought the club in 2016, taking them back to the English Premier League before losing control in 2019
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The former owner of English Premier League side Aston Villa was detained for six months by Chinese authorities before his formal arrest last month, according to reports from China.
On Friday, Caixin reported that Tony Xia Jiantong “spent six months in a shadowy network of detention centres prior to his formal arrest last month on suspicion of harming the interests of a Shenzhen-listed manufacturing company”.
The Beijing-based business news outlet spoke to Xia’s family members, who said that the businessman had been detained from July 17 last year to his arrest on January 15. Reports of a warrant for his arrest emerged in Chinese media after he had already been arrested.
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Xia rose to international renown when he bought the former European champions in 2016, the then 39-year-old owner of Recon Group paid a reported £76.2 million (US$91.6 million) to US billionaire Randy Lerner.
His time at the club was typified by his interaction with fans on Twitter and promises to take the club up from the second-tier Championship and make the Birmingham-based club into a powerhouse.
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