Spokesman defends Al-Fahim reign

06 October 2009 18:45
Sulaiman Al-Fahim's spokesman, Ivo Ilic Gabara, has defended the former Portsmouth owner's reign at Fratton Park. Al-Fahim agreed to sell a 90 per cent share of the club he gained full ownership of just six weeks ago to billionaire Ali Al-Faraj on Monday. Al-Fahim had been holding talks with legal representatives of Al-Faraj's company, Falcondrone Limited, over the past few days and a after a deal was struck, he keeps a 10% stake and reverts to a non-executive chairman role. The former owner's time in charge was marred by cash-flow problems, coupled with the team's poor performances in the Premier League as they lost their opening seven games. However, Al-Fahim's representative has moved to deny he took on too much when buying the club in August and insists he has achieved his goals. "I don't think so," Gabara told Sky Sports News, when asked if Al-Fahim was out of his depth. "I think he has achieved exactly what he set out to do. He wanted to make sure the club did not go into administration and the club did not go into administration. "He wanted to have other investors come into the club and that is exactly what has happened and he remains an owner of a significant stake in the club and non-executive chairman." Questions have been raised over the summer exodus of players from Fratton Park as star players Peter Crouch, Niko Kranjcar and Sylvain Distin left in big-money moves. With the club now financially secure, fans are aggrieved they have lost their main assets when new investment always seemed likely, but Gabara insists they could not take the risk. "At the time the situation was different, at the time it was not sure how pressing the creditors would prove to be," he said. "Therefore, at the time he (Al-Fahim) was convinced that the funding he was ready and willing to commit to back in August would have been sufficient to take him into the stage when the £50million investment would have been available."

Source: SKY_Sports