Ex-director of Manchester United made a bankrupt

A former Manchester United director who ran up gambling debts of almost £2m after four days in Las Vegas was declared bankrupt yesterday.

Amer Al Midani, 44, was refused further time to settle the debts – which he amassed at the roulette tables – at a bankruptcy hearing in the High Court in Manchester.

The hearing was told earlier this week that Mr Midani owed the Rio hotel and casino £1.2m and had repeatedly failed to meet instalment payments to clear the amount.

His counsel, Louis Doyle, asked Judge Maddocks to allow Mr Midani, who was described as an entrepreneur, a further four weeks to raise the money. He said: "He wishes to discharge the debt in full. Ordinarily he is able to tap into the sort of funds that would resolve this matter, but his particular circumstances and his ill-health have precluded him from raising the money."

But Victor Joffe QC, opposing the application on behalf of Rio Properties of Nevada, said Mr Midani had not been "full, frank and honest" about his assets. "There has been not a shred of evidence as to how this man earns his money and how he is able to flit around the globe raising money and gambling in casinos," he said.

Mr Midani's lawyers had argued that the money was not recoverable as a gambling debt. But the judge ruled that the sum had been advanced to Mr Midani for the lawful activity of gambling in Nevada and was recoverable in law.

The court had been told that the Lebanese-born businessman won £2.4m at the casino in 1999 and 2000 but on a final visit shortly afterwards lost the £1.9m advanced to him.

Mr Midani, who has homes in Cheshire and Spain, was not in court for the judgment.He was a director of Manchester United for 15 years. According to club insiders he used an inheritance to buy a stake and became a director in 1987. He retired as a director on 7 June this year by mutual consent.