Premier League - Portsmouth hit by embargo

PA Sport - Wed, 28 Oct 11:44:00 2009

Portsmouth have confirmed they have been hit with a transfer embargo from the Premier League for failing to pay money owed to other clubs.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Barclays Premier League Paul Hart - 0

However, the south coast club are confident the embargo will not be in place for long.

Portsmouth director of communications Gary Double told PA Sport: "This concerns unpaid money to other clubs and it is in the process of being sorted.

"We are confident the situation will be sorted by the end of the week."

It means manager Paul Hart will be unable to bring any new players in to Fratton Park until further notice as he seeks to save the troubled club from relegation.

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said: "We can confirm there is an embargo on Portsmouth registering any new players."

Saudi businessman Ali Al-Faraj bought 90 per cent of Portsmouth from former owner Sulaiman Al-Fahim earlier this month after he failed to raise the cash needed to pay the players' September wages.

Further questions have since been asked about the club's finances after Israeli mogul Levi Kushnir and Hong Kong-based Balram Chainrai emerged as potential investors in the club. They have been linked with making a £15 million loan, which would be secured against Pompey's assets.

Al Fahim's investment group - Al-Fahim Asia Associates Ltd. - only completed their takeover of the club in August but his brief time in charge was beset by financial problems.

PA Sport

Comment 11 - 30 of 30

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. comment 22- you are a sad sour pompy fan yes chelsea­ have been baned from signing any players for making an­ illegal approach! but at least we PAY in full for the­ players we buy! lol if you cant afford to sign a decent­ player dont bother trying to!!! lol southampton are­ much better than pompy go on the saints

    From mick.morris, on Thu 29 Oct 11:04AM

  2. those who r sayin that portsmouth is unimportant can go­ to hell!sometimes the bottom 3 fights r much more­ interesting than the top 4..and i would love to c­ portsmouth fighting back.

    From Saurov, on Thu 29 Oct 4:22AM

  3. roger m your arre probably some bitter scummer.

    From hey_burny, on Wed 28 Oct 7:55PM

  4. Does anybody know how to cancel a bid on ebay ?? I­ bid for a mickey mouse outfit and now in only 6 mins­ from owning pompy fc

    From roger m, on Wed 28 Oct 7:10PM

  5. Seems all these crooked skint arrabs are taking pompy­ for a ride hahaha. oh the comedy of it all

    From roger m, on Wed 28 Oct 6:32PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    WHY NOT JUST KICK THIS LITTLE UNIMPORTANT CLUB OUT OF­ THE LEAGUE

    From russelllake21, on Wed 28 Oct 4:34PM

  7. Jarikamal - wrong, Sacha Gaydmak is also much 2 blame­ for Pompey's struggles, since he put the club up 4­ sale, stopped his money pump, THEN sacked Tony Adams­ last January! and he was prepared 2 c POmpey go into­ Admin!...and Paul Hart - of the negative tactics in­ the prem - didn't favour c.half of Adams'­ signings! OK, Sulaiman really mucked the club around­ unnecessarily - thank Christ he's no longer the­ owner! that's why he was nicknamed The fake Doctor!­ Paul Hart has had to work in ridiculously difficult­ circumstances mind!....

    From Tony, on Wed 28 Oct 4:32PM

  8. ..Paul Hart will probably be kept @ Pompey, even if­ moved back to Youth Development Manager etc, in favour­ of Avram Grant (roll on the work permit......). Phil­ Brown of Hull - and possibly Gianfranco Zola of West­ Ham - will also be close favourites, or 2nd or 3rd, for­ the sack from the Prem.........

    From Tony, on Wed 28 Oct 4:27PM

  9. At least Chelski seem 2 deserve their ban for their­ bribery techniques with young players & their­ families! they'll still get at least a 1 year ban,­ after their grovelling appeal and pathetic request for­ a "suspension" of their ban! No, Pompey have­ NOT signed ANY young players illegally (to my­ knowledge), only tried to bring them in properly from­ mainly UK clubs, or a few "locally grown"­ lads, like Matt Ritchie! The prob seems 2 b down to­ outstanding "fires" which the new Owner and­ co. are trying 2 "fight" right now.....

    From Tony, on Wed 28 Oct 4:24PM

  10. If Portsmouth go down there would be only ONE person to­ be blamed, "Al-Fahim". The man is a joke or­ he is a liar or incompetent in raising finance on a­ number of reasons.

    Firstly he releases big statements­ about buying Portsmouth and doing this and doing that.­ Then he's unable to secure funding and build his­ consortium. Then, he's selling his shares to ali­ Al-Faraj who is a property developer in Saudi Arabia­ (who allegedly borrowed money from banks to pay players­ wages earlier this month). Then Al-Faraj denies any­ involvment with the club, blah blah blah.

    I have­ doubts about Al-Fahim's integrity as a businessman­ and being able to handle such a venture that is already­ proving to be bigger than he thought. He might be a­ shrewd man but in my opinion he has failed to save­ Portsmouth's sinking ship and the lack of funding­ will relegate them. I'm not a Portsmouth fan but I­ wouldn't be very pleased with the existing Chairman­ if I were. Al-Fahim needs to either raise the money or­ leave.

    From jarikamal, on Wed 28 Oct 4:22PM

  11. Bogoff 1878 and Guspoyet! - why don't u mind yr own­ business instead of trying 2 mock a club struggling -­ but fighting on - to sort out their probs thro b****y­ difficult circumstances! If you're anything like so­ the called Tabloid "reporters" then you­ probably haven't a b****y clue what yr prattling on­ about! If you're the real Gus poyet, whjy­ don't u stick to trying 2 find a new job, just­ 'cos you and Ramos failed to inspire the Tottenum­ Spuds!

    From Tony, on Wed 28 Oct 4:17PM

  12. serves them right for playing around with money they­ didn't have.

    From 1878, on Wed 28 Oct 3:23PM

  13. Not very fair
    Pompey will go down now-defo
    Finish­ bottom along with Wolves and Hull City.
    Paul Hart will­ also be the next manager to be sacked this season.

    From guspoyet, on Wed 28 Oct 3:16PM

  14. didn't that City Arab bought Porstmouth or is he­ just gambling with his family money ?

    From Angelos, on Wed 28 Oct 3:00PM

  15. its a shame to see a nice club like this go under , i­ feel sorry for paul hart not knowing when anything is­ going to happen

    From P, on Wed 28 Oct 2:38PM

  16. And now for Chelski! 2 year ban please

    From Darren, on Wed 28 Oct 2:27PM

  17. paperboy, when at 12.12 i made that comment it didnt­ say why u mushroom head, and yes, i can read fine, its­ just ur moronic ramblings that dont make sense, tos-ser

    From paul, on Wed 28 Oct 2:10PM

  18. Not payed thier salaries? welcome to the dole queue­ guys

    From The commentator, on Wed 28 Oct 1:53PM

  19. well championship 4 u pomppay

    From jodain, on Wed 28 Oct 1:27PM

  20. #4: Can yyou not read? The opening sentence of the­ report says very clearly:
    Portsmouth have confirmed­ they have been hit with a transfer embargo from the­ Premier League for failing to pay money owed to other­ clubs.
    In view of that, how can you possibly say:­ 'doesnt say why'?

    From Paperboy, on Wed 28 Oct 1:15PM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account