Pompey issued winding-up order (From This is Hampshire)

News RSS Feed

HM Revenue and Customs presents winding-up petition on Portsmouth Football Club

4:40pm Wednesday 30th December 2009 in News Photograph of the Author By Jon Reeve, Education Reporter

Pompey issued winding-up order

A WINDING-UP petition has been served against Portsmouth Football Club - but the Fratton Park outfit has denied it.

The move could see Pompey entered into compulsory liquidation if it cannot settle its debts by the time of a court hearing in early February.

But in a statement released this afternoon, the club insisted it is in negotiations with the Inland Revenue over VAT payments, and it has not received a formal winding-up petition.

That is despite the High Court in London confirming HM Revenue and Customs had indeed served a notice against Pompey.

Saints' beleaguered south coast rivals are currently the subject of a transfer embargo by the Premier League because Pompey have failed to make payments to other clubs as instalments on player transfers.

The club, which is currently bottom of top flight and four points from safety, is believed to owe at least £10m to other clubs, including Chelsea, Tottenham, and cash-strapped Watford.

Players and officials have also been made to wait for their wages twice this season because there was not enough money in the bank to pay them.

Despite paying other creditors, including South Africa-based Standard Bank through the proceeds raised from the sale of several big-name players including Jermaine Defoe, Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch and Niko Krancjar, Pompey are also believed to still owe around £30m to former owner Sacha Gaydamak in outstanding loans.

There have also been problems relating to outstanding tax bills at the club, which has been sold twice already this year.

Sulaiman Al Fahim bought Pompey from Gaydamak in the summer, only to then sell 90 per cent of his shareholding to Saudi businessman Ali Al Faraj in October, after failing to deliver on promises to bring in new investment.

Related links

Pompey issued with winding up petition

Although a payment of £2m was said to have been made earlier this month, it appears patience at HMRC has finally run out, with a further £1.5m reportedly remaining unpaid.

It presented a winding-up petition on December 23, but a full court hearing will not take place until February 10.

If the club is unable to strengthen its financial position by then, it could be declared bankrupt.

The transfer window, which opens on Friday, represents the best opportunity to help the struggling club raise some vital funds.

Star players David James, Younes Kaboul and Kevin Prince-Boateng have all been linked with moves away from Portsmouth in a bid to help bring in much-needed cash.

But their departure would be another major blow to manager Avram Grant's hopes of saving his side from relegation, at a time when Pompey are set to lose four more key players for up to a month during the African Cup of Nations.

But in a statement released late this afternoon, the club insisted it hasn't actually received the order.

"Portsmouth Football Club has not been formally served with a winding up petition and is shocked and surprised this action has been taken in respect of VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contributions which either have been, or are about to be paid, or are disputed," it read.

"The club is disputing the VAT amount outstanding and has formally notified HMRC of this. We expect HMRC to withdraw their demands forthwith.

"Otherwise we anticipate a hearing being held in early January 2010 during which we will request that the High Court order HMRC to withdraw their demands.

Since the takeover by Ali Al Faraj in October 2009, extreme efforts have been made to reach payment arrangements with HMRC to allow the owner time to deal with inherited debt.

"To date the new owner has injected a total of £9.7m of new funds to HMRC - £5.7m paid and security to the value of £4M.

"In such a tough economic environment the club finds it hard to understand this action by HMRC.

"It is well known that the business has been in a difficult position following former owners’ decisions and the current owner is committed to resolving this and moving forward."

Comments(66)

Big Mac says...
1:58pm Wed 30 Dec 09

Happy New Year to all Saints supporters!