Manchester City chairman Thaksin Shinawatra says Thailand footballers will benefit from the new coalition of clubs he has put together.

Thaksin said: "The problem is that our national football team is now ranked 113th in the world. England only provide work permits to national players that come from the top 70 ranking. Even players from Iraq whose team is ranked 71st, still cannot get one.

"So, (our players) have to go through a long process to get work permits. They have to go through Manchester City's allied teams in Europe to get work permits from there, and then they can get into England."