Source: Daily_Mail
Premier League urged cash-strapped Portsmouth to accept administration
Premier League clubs are unlikely to sanction an advance payment of £11million to Portsmouth to keep them afloat unless they agree to go into administration and incur a nine-point penalty.[LNB] With the Premier League desperate to avoid Portsmouth being liquidated in the High Court on Wednesday, there is a plan to advance some of this season's revenue due to them so the club can pay their tax bill and fulfil their fixtures.[LNB] Under pressure: Portsmouth manager Avram Grant shows the strain during a press conference[LNB] However, should Portsmouth accept the lesser evil of administration and the nine-point deduction other clubs might be prepared give them an £11m guarantee to take into court.[LNB] Portsmouth would effectively be relegated but they would survive as a club and would be due two parachute payments of approximately £16m for the next two seasons.The Premier League table would not have to be reconfigured as it would in the case of liquidation.[LNB] There is no desire among other Premier League clubs to see Portsmouth liquidated but there is unwillingness to bail them out at their expense.[LNB] That would be self-defeating and those who have lived within their means do not feel it is their responsibility to compensate Portsmouth, who are commonly viewed to have overspent.[LNB] The former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp yesterday threw his weight behind financial support for the club and said: "We don't want anybody, especially Portsmouth, to go out of the Premier League. Hopefully they can find a new owner who will have the club at heart and take it forward again.[LNB] 'It would be a disaster if they went.'[LNB] Hull City are one of those clubs at the bottom who would be adversely affected if Portsmouth were liquidated but their chairman Adam Pearson told Sportsmail yesterday: 'I have sympathy with Portsmouth. But obviously we would not be happy with anything that puts a club at a particular advantage.[LNB]'Everyone is tight for money and we would all like to have our hands on next year's money now. But is it right to do that because of the situation Portsmouth find themselves in?'[LNB] Portsmouth's potential liquidation would mean altering the current league table. West Ham United would suffer most - the Hammers would drop from 14th to 19th in the table. [LNB] Grant pleads for Portsmouth reprieve as crisis club are handed March 1 dateEXCLUSIVE: Portsmouth swoop for Tosic despite dark clouds hanging over[LNB] [LNB]
