American investor joins Arsenal board

American businessman Stan Kroenke has joined the board of Arsenal.

The Premier League club says the Denver-based investor has become a non-executive director and holds a 12.4 percent share in the London side.

The move seems intended to block a potential takeover of Arsenal by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has a stake of more than 24 percent in the club.

Friday's announcement came on the same day that Arsenal reported a pre-tax profit of 36.7 million pounds (US$66 million; ?46.4 million) for the year ending May 2008.