Portsmouth teetering on brink of administration

PORTSMOUTH are set to become the first Premier League club to go into administration after owner Balram Chainrai served notice of his intention to put the club into the hands of insolvency experts on Friday.

Chainrai said it was now unlikely that a takeover deal would be done before the end of the week and administration will prevent the club from being wound up in the High Court on Monday.

But it will also mean certain relegation for Pompey – there is an automatic nine-point penalty for any Premier League club going into administration and that would leave the side on just seven points, 16 behind their nearest rivals.

After that there is the prospect of a continuing player exodus and a long period of rebuilding in the Championship.

Chainrai is still in talks with four different consortiums about a takeover but any chance of a deal being done is remote, and with a winding up order due in the High Court on Monday, the decision has been taken to go in to administration instead to save the club.

Chainrai’s spokesman Phil Hall said administration would keep the club alive as the winding up order is now automatically suspended.

Portsmouth have debts of £70 (€79.8) million and the winding up order was over £7.5million owed to HM Revenue and Customs.

One possible big loser from the club going into administration is former owner Sacha Gaydamak, who says he is still owed £30m.

The £17m put in by Chainrai and Portpin as a loan to the previous owner may also be difficult to reclaim though he has suggested a deal where the club would pay him £1million a year rent for Fratton Park until he has recouped the cash.

Chainrai’s spokesman Phil Hall said none of the four consortiums had made a credible offer.

Hall said: “Mr Chainrai is looking for absolute credible proof of funds and trying to avoid the mistakes the previous regimes have made.

“Administration would mean the club re-emerging as a healthy financial entity and it would then become an attractive proposition for a potential buyer who could invest new funds in re-building the club’s future.

“The serving of this notice means the winding up order is automatically suspended. It means the club is safe, it can fulfil its fixtures and as far as is possible it is business as usual.

“Mr Chainrai has agreed to continue funding the club going forward until its long-term future is decided and he will also pay for the administration process out of his own pocket.”

Hall said Chainrai and his associates were “victims of circumstances” having given a £17million short-term loan to the Al Faraj Group, who said it would be repaid in November.

Some fans have blamed club chief executive Peter Storrie and former manager Harry Redknapp for overspending on players and wages, but the current Tottenham boss claims it is “extraordinary” that Portsmouth are in such debt.

Redknapp said: “It never entered my mind when I was there, that there would be problems. The club was run well.”