Blues board defend finances

23 August 2010 18:50
irmingham City's acting chairman Peter Pannu has denied the club could be headed for a Portsmouth-style meltdown.[LNB] Birmingham International Holdings Ltd, owner Carson Yeung's firm and Blues' holding company, has been warned it could collapse due to massive debts.[LNB]BHIL have excessive liabilities of around £35million and it had been feared the club's long-term future could be at stake.[LNB]However, Pannu insists Yeung is fully committed to Birmingham and that he will subsidise any short-term payments required to keep them afloat.[LNB]The club's acting chairman also believes the club's level of debt is nowhere near the height of others and that reports of their demise have been exaggerated.[LNB]"The accounts are those of the holding company and has nothing to do with BCFC which, in the last year, had shown some profits," Pannu told the Birmingham Mail.[LNB]"The level of negativity as portrayed in the account is the carrying forward of net debts and write off from previous years.[LNB]"The club is continually supported by Carson Yeung with his personal money where, by undertaking, there are no plans to call in and more will come in to buy players, where we see value and where the new players will enhance the squad.[LNB]"Football is an expensive hobby and will remain that way unless all Premier League owners come together and do something about the runaway player wages and instil some sort of financial discipline collectively.[LNB]"I may also take this opportunity to remind people, fans and the public, that they cannot have it both ways as on the one hand criticising accounts and on the other hand demanding more injection of funds to enhance the squad.[LNB]"There has to be a balance and we feel the club had struck that balance and the parent company's accounts are nowhere near to the level of debts shown by some major Premier League clubs and some of the powerhouses in Spain and Europe.[LNB]"To suggest a crisis and a financial meltdown of BCFC is not only ludicrous but is a bit of a rumour-mongering exercise. The club is in good health and we have unlimited support from Carson Yeung."

Source: Team_Talk