Here’s a hell of a thing. Alisher Usmanov, putative Arsenal owner and website smiter launched a charm offensive this week. You can’t buy the kind of favourable coverage he got.

Well, actually, you can. He took ten journalists to Moscow to vouch for his own character in the face of allegations made about him. Because flying ten hacks to Moscow and putting them up in a five star hotel is cheaper than a libel case, obviously.

The journalists duly wrote up their trip and what Usmanov had had to say for himself. How many of them, do you think, declared their interest and how the trip had been lavish and all expenses paid?

The answer, as uncovered by Tim Ireland, may or may not surprise you.

UPDATE 5/10: Tim gets assurances in a letter from the Financial Times:

…in accordance with our strict policy on hospitality, the FT refunded the cost of an air fare and insisted on paying the hotel bill ourselves.