French court rules to extradite Russian who owned Portsmouth football club / Photo: PETRAS MALUKAS - AFP
-
Kane hails World Cup 'Wonderwall' singalong as England highlight
-
Sabalenka roars back to make Berlin WTA semis
-
Europe swelters as more heat records set to tumble
-
Narvaez takes Swiss Tour third stage after 100km breakaway
-
'There's no soul': Tony Leung weighs in on AI in filmmaking
-
Europe swelters as temperature records tumble
-
From Versailles to a Swiss mountain: a week of dizzying Iran diplomacy
-
French mountain lodges worry over strained water supply
-
Coach tells S. Korea to move on fast with World Cup knockouts in reach
-
Heatwave hits more than one in two people in France
-
Henry strikes as New Zealand strengthen grip against England
-
Zverev sets up Fritz semi at Halle Open
-
England captain Stokes in action for Durham as Test recall looms
-
Clark stumbles but still leads by two at US Open
-
Moutet fined over x-rated Queen's Club rant
-
Ogura pulls off stunner to top Czech MotoGP practices
-
Outrage in Italy after Trump says Meloni 'begged' for photo op
-
Turkey bars public World Cup screening over university entrance exam
-
From birds to fish, how extreme heat causes wildlife to suffer
-
Ebola spreading 'fast' in DR Congo, warns WHO
-
Trapped on Everest for days, Nepali survivor recounts escape
-
The Sun may not engulf Earth after all, scientists say
-
Clark leads by three as US Open second round begins
-
Russia signals slower rate cuts amid high Ukraine war spending
-
Fritz gets revenge on Shelton to reach Halle semis
-
Henry strikes as New Zealand lead England by 100 runs in 2nd Test
-
Heatwave hits more than half of France's population
-
Online threats, insults fuel S.Africa's anti-foreigner hate
-
Former England keeper Earps agrees to join London City Lionesses
-
Clark completes first round with two-stroke US Open lead
-
Olympic hurdles medallist Bascou suspended for doping
-
Italian FM cancels US visit over reported Trump comments
-
Pegula sinks Keys to reach Berlin Open semis
-
Oil prices, shares steady after US-Iran talks postponed
-
Gaza ceasefire a 'deadly illusion': UNICEF
-
What did we learn from the hantavirus cruise ship scare?
-
S.Africa anti-migrant hate loses team African support at World Cup
-
Arsenal will start Premier League title defence against Coventry
-
European robotics start-ups go up against Chinese heavyweights
-
'Alter-Ego': An Italian hospital's little robot carer
-
Japan's men told to clean at home, not just the World Cup
-
French court confirms Moroccan football star Hakimi will stand trial for rape
-
Deadly Philippines quake turns seabed into shore
-
S. Korean leader says he told Trump sanctions on North are 'ineffective'
-
Indonesia to capture last-known wild Bornean rhino for IVF
-
No vaccine, conflict, mistrust: Ebola's return to DR Congo
-
USA, Australia eye World Cup knockout rounds, Brazil in action
-
AI museum brings sights, sounds and smells of the rainforest
-
Iran to lodge complaint with FIFA over World Cup restrictions
-
New Zealand minister defends fishers after two orcas killed in net
French court rules to extradite Russian who owned Portsmouth football club
A French court has ruled to extradite Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, a former owner of English football club Portsmouth, to Lithuania, his lawyer said on Friday.
Antonov was detained in western France last December on suspicion of fraud, following a European arrest warrant from Lithuania.
He is accused of having stripped assets and funds from a leading Lithuanian bank, Snoras, where he was a majority shareholder, between 2008 and 2011, when the lender was nationalised.
A second arrest warrant issued in December 2025 added charges of corruption, money laundering and bankruptcy, with total losses amounting to at least 478 million euros ($551 million).
Antonov's lawyer said that his client would challenge the ruling.
The court "clearly did not take into account the real risk to Mr. Antonov's life in Eastern Europe", Henry Ermeneux told AFP.
In 2024, a Lithuanian court sentenced Antonov in absentia to 10.5 years in prison for embezzlement.
In 2011, Antonov was arrested in Britain on the strength of a Lithuanian arrest warrant issued over the collapse of the Snoras Bank, but later released.
He purchased Portsmouth, then in the second-tier Championship, in June 2011.
He stepped down the following November when his company, Convers Sports Initiatives, went into administration following his arrest over the fraud allegations.
In 2015, a lawyer said Antonov had fled Britain because he feared for his life.
A.Silveira--PC
