25.02.2010
Portsmouth begin administration process
Portsmouth have started the process of going into administration and this will be completed in the High Court, a spokesman for the Premier League club's owner has confirmed.
Pompey's Hong Kong-based owner Balram Chainrai and his fellow investors had been in London continuing talks with representatives of four different groups interested in buying the club, but these proved unsuccessful.
Administrator Andrew Andronikou has now begun the administration paperwork as a result of the failure to find new owners before Thursday's deadline.
Chainrai's spokesman Phil Hall said Thursday: "We have started the process of putting the club into administration and this is due to be completed at the High Court in London first thing tomorrow (Friday).
"The administrator has begun work immediately on the paperwork and this should be completed by tomorrow (Friday)."
Administration will lead to the south-coast club avoiding a winding-up order over an unpaid 7.5 million pounds Revenue and Customs bill.
It will trigger a nine-point deduction that is sure to lead to relegation to the Championship, with Avram Grant's side already bottom of the league with 16 points from 26 matches.
Pompey will become the first Premier League club to go into administration and the nine-point deduction will leave them 16 points adrift of their nearest rivals and 17 points from safety.
Hall said talks had not broken down with the four interested groups but the club had not been attractive enough to them in its current financial state.
He added: "Once the club is in a more viable state it may become more attractive to them in terms of a takeover."
Andronikou, of insolvency experts UHY Hacker Young, is expected to make a statement on Friday about the club's position, although he is unlikely to hold a news conference.
Meanwhile, Chainrai is looking to recover a 17 million pounds loan he made to the previous owners.
Source: © 2010 AFP -
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