ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS:PORTSMOUTH CONFIRMED last night that they paid their players' salaries for October only after securing a €17 million loan from Portpin Ltd, a company understood to be backed by the Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai, which they hope will allow them to stabilise the troubled club while the new owners find their feet.
Ali al-Faraj purchased Portsmouth almost a month ago after the club’s previous owner, Sulaiman al-Fahim – who is expected to attend this afternoon’s game against Wigan Athletic in his role as non-executive chairman – failed to meet the squad’s salaries for September.
The league’s bottom side avoided a repeat of that unhappy scenario yesterday by securing the short-term loan from Chainrai, with the influx of cash to be spent on the wages, totalling around €2 million, and meeting costs to other creditors.
Faraj will effectively use the loan to buy him more time as he seeks to refinance the club.
While he had shown an interest in purchasing Portsmouth from Alexandre Gaydamak in the summer, he ended up rushing through a deal for 90 per cent of the club in four whirlwind days when Fahim’s lack of available funds became clear. The new owner is now coming to terms with the structure of the business’s current debts.
A transfer embargo imposed by the Premier League remains in place with Portsmouth in “ongoing dialogue” with Chelsea over the restructuring of payments still due on Glen Johnson’s transfer from Stamford Bridge in 2007. Agreement has been reached with Arsenal and Watford over fees owed for Lassana Diarra, the midfielder now at Real Madrid, and the forward Tommy Smith.
Yet, while Faraj is still determining how best to stabilise the club financially, he will not seek to sell to either Chainrai or Levi Kushnir, the businessmen who had also been part of the original consortium put together by the chief executive, Peter Storrie, and the agent, Pini Zahavi, back in August to purchase Pompey from Gaydamak.
The pair have attended the team’s last two games as guests of Ahmed al-Faraj, with Chainrai now providing the loan to ease the club’s short-term concerns.
However, Storrie has stressed that neither is considered a potential new owner, or even a director, at Fratton Park, with Faraj – who has yet to attend a game in person – apparently set upon a long-term involvement on the south coast.
Kushnir, who saw his holdings in three companies placed into receivership last week by a Tel Aviv district court, has stated that he has no intention to become involved at Portsmouth.
“I’ve no connection to the club,” he said. “These are stupid rumours.”
- Guardian Service
