THE owner of Portsmouth Football Club has been arrested in London over allegations of illegal practices at the bank he used to run.

A Europe-wide warrant had been out for Vladimir Antonov, and City of London Police today confirmed they had detained the Russian.

The 36-year-old is wanted in Lithuania along with a business partner over alleged financial crimes at Snoras Bank, of which Mr Antonov is the major shareholder.

The bank was put into temporary administration last week, while the Latvian authorities suspended the operations of another of Mr Antonov's banks, Krajbanka, on Tuesday.

The Lithuanian government claims that about £250m has been misappropriated from Snoras's funds.

The City of London police tonight confirmed that a 36-year-old and a 53-year-old man were arrested this afternoon.

Mr Antonov is the backer of Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI), which took over the Fratton Park club in June, four months after Pompey became the first Premier League side to enter administration.

The club earlier this week insisted it is "business as usual" despite the issues at Snoras Bank.