The former owner of Portsmouth, Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai, has put almost £1m into Portsmouth to ensure that the players’ wages are paid this month. This brings the total he has loaned to the club to around £19m.
Convers Sports Initiative (CSI) to whom Chainrai sold the club went into administration in November. The administrator has been in talks to sell Portsmouth over the past few weeks but if a deal cannot be reached soon is likely to try and find other buyers. A new owner is likely to roll over rather than pay off the debts.
The former owner of Portsmouth, Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai, has put almost £1m into Portsmouth to ensure that the players’ wages are paid this month. This brings the total he has loaned to the club to around £19m.
Convers Sports Initiative (CSI) to whom Chainrai sold the club went into administration in November. The administrator has been in talks to sell Portsmouth over the past few weeks but if a deal cannot be reached soon is likely to try and find other buyers. A new owner is likely to roll over rather than pay off the debts.
The club are estimated to need about £2m to meet their costs for the rest of the season, but have few players who would bring in big fees during the transfer window. Moreover, they have been unable to offload defender Tal Ben-Haim who earns about £40,000 a week. Overall losses are estimated at £5m a season.
Whether the club will face a points deduction is uncertain. The matter is so complicated that the Football League has asked a firm of accountants with experience of football to look at the situation. What is at issue is whether any club debt was transferred to CSI.