The power struggle at Liverpool took another astonishing twist today when co-owner Tom Hicks demanded the resignation of chief executive Rick Parry and Dubai International Capital put their takeover plans on hold.
It is believed a letter from Hicks arrived at Anfield today - just 48 hours after the club's triumphant passage into the Champions League semi-finals - demanding Parry's departure.
Parry is currently in London at a Premier League meeting but he has been made aware of the communication and is expected to refuse to quit by return of post.
This shock move from Liverpool's Dallas-based co-owner is just the latest chapter in the embarrassing saga over control of the club, which reached a peak last month when talks between Hicks and DIC broke down.
The relationship between Hicks and co-owner George Gillett also appears to have deteriorated beyond repair, with the latter believed to be keen to sell his stake but not to his partner.
Parry has at times found himself in the middle of the feud, trying to run the club effectively on a day-to-day basis.
Hicks' camp clearly believe Parry is siding with Gillett as the uproar rumbles on, prompting the request for his resignation.
All this comes on the same day DIC publicly declared they will not make a fresh bid for Liverpool until Gillett and Hicks "sort out their problems".
DIC chief executive Sameer Al Ansari insisted the consortium would "still love to own" the club.
But, in an interview with Arabian Business magazine, to be published this Sunday, he said: "You have two partners who do not see eye to eye. And we decided that we pull out completely.
"Let them sort out their problems."
He added: "We will continue to be interested and would love to own the club but we are not going to put ourselves in a difficult situation where we make the investment but we have no control over the destiny of the club and we cannot influence the success of the club.
"Unfortunately, the terms that have been put on the table do not allow us to do that."
Hicks was in London last week and watched both the Liverpool matches against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
But on Tuesday, he was back in Dallas watching his Texas Rangers' baseball team while co-owner Gillett sitting next to Parry in the Liverpool directors' box.
They were watching boss Rafael Benitez's team beat Arsenal 4-2 to progress into another Champions League semi-final showdown with Chelsea later this month.
Today's developments do nothing for the stability of the club ahead of Benitez's attempts to reach a third European Cup final in four years.
Gillett's son Foster was also in attendance on Tuesday, as was Hicks' son Tom Jnr, both of whom are directors of the club.
It is also believed Liverpool fans groups have received e-mails telling them Hicks wants Parry out.
However, with the club ownership split 50-50 between the two Americans, Hicks would not have been able to have secured approval for Parry's dismissal, hence the letter received at Anfield today.
Hicks was believed to have been enraged by Parry's interview recently on BBC Five Live in which the chief executive pleaded with both co-owners to end the war between them and come to an agreement that would allow the club to move forward.
It was Parry who was largely involved Gillett's arrival at the club 18 months ago, with the American bringing in Hicks for financial muscle to get the deal through.
At that point, DIC believed they were on the brink of buying former chairman David Moores' majority holding, only for the deal to collapse at the last minute when Moores - now life vice-president and still a board member - changed his mind.
Since then, DIC have patiently worked towards a deal to buy out both Americans.
However, Hicks spent time last week in London trying to raise capital to buy Gillett's shares and to re-finance loans on his own sports empire.
He will soon be expected to come up with further loans to fund the building of Liverpool's new stadium.
