Alpine heroes could rescue Enic

SOCCER-MAD Daniel Levy has spent millions building his leisure and media empire Enic around the fortunes of Premiership side Tottenham Hotspur. But bizarrely it is little-known Swiss side FC Basel which could salvage something for Levy and his long-suffering shareholders.

Spurs' season is in tatters but FC Basel, where Enic owns 12%, is top of the Swiss league and could find itself in the early rounds of the money-spinning Champions League next season.

As well as 29% of Spurs and 20% of Glasgow Rangers, Levy has collected a hotchpotch of stakes in soccer clubs across Europe including AEK Athens, Vicenza and Slavia Prague, having made a fortune out of an early investment in software group Autonomy.

But the Spurs stake is now worth just £10m, less than half what it paid for Sir Alan Sugar's 22% holding. Enic has reported half-year profits of £1m against £30m last time when it sold a block of Autonomy shares. An attempt to build up a betting business has been scrapped. The shares, once 382p, are now 31p.