Source: Daily_Mail
Saudi takeover saves the day as Al Fahim's doomed Pompey reign ends
Sulaiman Al Fahim's brief but disastrous reign as Portsmouth owner ended as the consortium backed by Saudi property magnate Ali Al Faraj assumed control of the troubled club.
The paperwork on the deal was finalised on Monday night after Al Fahim and representatives of Al Faraj and former owner Alexandre Gaydamak spent the day in talks in London.
Under the terms of the takeover, Al Fahim will retain a 10 per cent stake in the club and be granted the title of non-executive chairman.
Portsmouth's fans will no doubt be breathing a collective sigh of relief now that Al Fahim's farcical tenure has come to a swift conclusion. Since gaining control of the club at the end of August, he has failed to invest the necessary funds, resulting in the first-team players and members of the executive board not being paid.
That was still the case but the £5million loan Al Faraj has promised the club to pay the wages, among other bills, had depended on some details of the deal being ironed out.
However, while complex, a final agreement has been sorted. The players have been kept informed of developments by the club and the Professional Footballers' Association.
Gaydamak was involved in the negotiations as it is understood he was still owed money by Al Fahim from the original buyout, while agreement was also needed over the purchase of land surrounding Fratton Park owned by the French-Israeli businessman.
Before the deal was sealed late on Monday night, a spokesman for the former Portsmouth owner said: 'Sasha Gaydamak only became aware of the deal to sell Portsmouth on Friday. He has instructed his advisors to provide all assistance to help any deal happen.
'He will do everything he can to assist the completion of a sale to an owner with the long-term interests of the club and its supporters.'
Many Portsmouth fans are already blaming Gaydamak for the financial meltdown at the club and were unhappy with his surprise decision to sell to Al Fahim rather than the Al Faraj consortium, which was brought to the table by chief executive Peter Storrie.
Questions must surely be raised over why Gaydamak opted for a man who had struggled for three months to raise the funds needed to buy the club and who admitted his decision to sell 'was in the best interests of the club'.
What is certainly clear is the need for Al Faraj, who has family connections to the Gulf's biggest petrochemical business Sabic, and his fellow investors to pump £16.5m into Portsmouth within the next fortnight in order to stave off the threat of administration.
