Tom Hicks' three-year reign at Liverpool ended Friday, with the former co-owner telling The Associated Press that ''the British Establishment'' conspired against his attempts to block the club's sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox.
Hicks said Royal Bank of Scotland refused to allow him to repay Liverpool's debts to prevent the 300 million-pound ($476 million) sale to New England Sports Ventures, which he says undervalues the club.
RBS was partly nationalized in 2008, with the British government taking an 84 percent stake after it was brought to the brink of collapse by the global economic crisis.
Hicks and co-owner George Gillett Jr. tried to prevent three English Liverpool directors from agreeing to a sale to NESV with court cases in London and Dallas.
But on Friday they dropped the temporary restraining order blocking the sale which had been obtained in Texas, while announcing they will pursue a $1.6 billion damages claim over what they called the ''illegal'' buyout.
With the sale to the Red Sox completed, Hicks told the AP: ''This was a conspiracy of the British Establishment - Royal Bank of Scotland - our chairman (Martin Broughton) and our highly compensated employees.''
