The future ownership of Arsenal, the English Premier League football team, remained in doubt after Stan Kroenke, the US billionaire who has accumulated the biggest stake in the London club, refused to discuss his intentions at a shareholders’ meeting.

Mr Kroenke, who was making his first public appearance as a board director since building up a 28.9 per cent stake in Arsenal, stayed silent when one of the club’s small shareholders tackled him on his long-term intentions.