World Rally Championship's commercial boss arrested in London

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Vladimir Antonov, the commercial boss of the World Rally Championship and owner of Portsmouth Football Club has been arrested Thursday in an enquiry into asset stripping.

Lithuanian prosecutors want to question him and his business partner Raimondas Baranauskas as part of an investigation into claims involving Snoras Bank, a Lithuanian bank of which Antonov was a 68 per cent shareholder.

The Snoras Bank was once a sponsor of the Renault Formula 1 team.

Photo: Renault

Snoras Bank went into temporary administration last week and on Tuesday Latvian authorities suspended the operations of another of Antonov's banks, Krajbanka.

Convers Sports Initiatives, the company which owns the commercial rights to the World Rally Championship and is backed by Antonov, hasn't commented on the situation since last week, when it insisted its business was unaffected by the situation at Bankas Snoras.