Portsmouth News
Pompey 'could go out of business' - administrator 15 October 2010 By Emma Judd
Pompey's administrator fears the club could go out of business after the Football League refused to allow it out of administration.
Andrew Andronikou said it was now 'virtually impossible to keep trading as a club'.
And he said it could see potential owner Balram Chainrai walking away from Pompey.
The Football League's board yesterday decided not to lift the administration restrictions.
Mr Andronikou says the board want Mr Chainrai's company Portpin to waive its £15m security as part of the Company Voluntary Agreement - the repayment plan to creditors. But he said this was never going to happen 'in a million years'.
He said: 'It is rather like in the Liverpool situation for the Premier League to ask the Royal Bank of Scotland to waive its £280million.
'We have no cash flow, and as administrators we cannot continue to trade with thin air.
'The league know the situation we are in.
'They have put us in a position where it is virtually impossible to keep trading as a club.
'I get the feeling that the Football League and Premier League are either completely naive or they are telling us to shut Portsmouth Football Club.
'The Football League know Mr Chainrai, he has been vetted by them and they are happy with him.
'They also have an undertaking from him to provide £5m to the club.
'In the past they have asked for everything from the purchaser - now they have asked for one thing too many.'
Mr Andronikou now fears Hong Kong businessman Mr Chainrai may walk away from Pompey.
'The only thing I can see now is for the purchaser to reject the Football League demands and walk away, and if he has anyone advising him, then I am sure that is what they will say,' he told a national newspaper.
'We cannot trade into next month.
'By the end of this month we will not have sufficient funds to pay wages.
'There is no-one else out there prepared to buy the club and provide the working capital to keep us going and satisfy these impossible terms.'
A Football League statement said: 'As with any club that goes into administration, the Football League are focused on ensuring that any takeover delivers a sustainable future for the club that is fair to creditors and fans of all clubs.
'This is what our requirements in this case aim to achieve.'
But Lucius Peart, Pompey's head of operations, who last night attended a meeting of the Pompey Supporters' Trust at the Rifle Club in Fratton, was more upbeat, telling the crowd: 'The Football League board were asking for information which might require alteration of the CVA, which we cannot do, so we have gone back to them explaining this and asking for some clarification.
But as I understand it, this is something that can be resolved, not something we'll be at loggerheads over.'
Andrew Andronikou said club can't ‘continue to trade with thin air'
www.portsmouth.co.uk/frattonlatest/Pompey-39could-go-out-of.6582547.jp?articlepage=1
