Source: Daily_Mail
We've broken no rules so give us our TV money, say cash-strapped Portsmouth
Crisis club Portsmouth will this week demand that the Premier League hand over £2million of television money which they claim is being withheld against the competition's own rules. [LNB]Portsmouth insist they have paid all overdue debts to clubs with £5m of the £7m which was due to them last Tuesday, and they believe the League cannot justify either retaining the remaining £2m or refusing to lift the club's transfer embargo. [LNB]The challenge to the Premier League's authority will be another landmark in what is fast becoming a season in which financial issues threaten to overshadow the compelling drama on the pitch. [LNB] Financial crisis: Portsmouth's game against Birmingham on Saturday was called off due to a waterlogged pitch [LNB]Manchester United and Liverpool supporters are in uproar about thedebts foisted on their clubs by their American owners and the strugglesof every club from the champions of England to the world's oldestprofessional club, Notts County, are putting football in the headlinesfor all the wrong reasons. [LNB]Portsmouth's complaint will form part of another crucial week forthe club, who remain adrift at the bottom of the Premier League afteryesterday's postponement of their home game against Birmingham. [LNB]Tomorrow they will ask a High Court judge to order HM Revenue andCustoms to withdraw the winding- up petition served on them beforeChristmas. If their application succeeds, it will give them breathingspace to sort out their financial crisis; if they fail, the petitionwill be heard on February 10 when Portsmouth could become the firsttop-flight club to go into administration.[LNB]Protest: Pompey fans at Fratton Park want answers [LNB] The club have paid £4m of the £11,462,000 specified in the petitionand will argue the petition should be withdrawn while they argue withthe taxman about whether they owe the outstanding balance. [LNB]Administration would bring a nine-point penalty and certainrelegation, and the row with the Premier League is crucial toPortsmouth's faint hopes of staying in the world's richest league, withmanager Avram Grant at present unable to strengthen his threadbaresquad. [LNB]Director Mark Jacob said: 'We believe that the Premier League areacting beyond their powers. The rules state that television money canbe withheld only in order to settle overdue debts, not because thereare other debts due in the future. [LNB]'We will be writing a strongly-worded letter to the Premier Leagueasking them to send us the £2m remaining from our scheduled TV paymentand to lift the transfer embargo.' [LNB]Of the £7m in TV rights money Portsmouth were due to be paid lastTuesday, £5m was diverted to cover transfer debts to clubs, with £2.4mfor English sides and £2.6m going abroad. [LNB]Portsmouth insist they have reached agreements with French clubsLens - for Nadir Belhadj and Aruna Dindane - and Stade Rennais, forJohn Utaka, to pay the rest of what they owe in instalments, and thatthey have a genuine dispute with Italian club Udinese over the SulleyMuntari deal. [LNB] 'Where's all our money gone?' Portsmouth fans demonstrate at Fratton Park [LNB][LNB]The club say they have provided written evidence of the agreementswith the French clubs to the Premier League. The League's Rule C47 saysthey can deduct money from TV payments if a club 'fails to make anypayment' to a creditor of a specified kind, including both domestic andoverseas clubs, but not if there are future payments which the clubmight not be able to meet.[LNB] The Premier League declined to comment but have previously saidthey will lift the transfer embargo imposed in October only if they aresatisfied that Portsmouth's financial situation is such that allowingthem to bring in new players would not lead to further problems, suchas another failure to pay players on time. [LNB]Help! Under pressure Pompey boss Avram Grant [LNB][LNB]They will also want to be sure that Stade Rennais and Lens are happyto wait for the rest of their money and to know further details of theUdinese row. [LNB]Watford are due to receive an instalment of £950,000 relating to thesignings of Tommy Smith and Mike Williamson on January 31 and it isthought there are other payments due in the next two months whichexceed the £2m the Premier League have held back.[LNB] Ahead of another crucial week in their club's history, Portsmouthfans yesterday presented a letter to Jacob demanding action on fiveareas of concern, including the transfer embargo and settlement of tax debts.[LNB] If they do not receive satisfactory answers, they threaten to marchon Fratton Park before Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Sunderland. [LNB]They are not the only Premier League supporters in militant mood. Manchester United fans chanted 'We want the Glazers out' duringyesterday's 3-0 win over Burnley after the full extent of the cripplingdebt the owners have put on to the club was laid bare in a prospectusseeking £500m of new loans. [LNB]The long-held antipathy of many Liverpool fans towards co-owners TomHicks and George Gillett has only increased with poor results on thepitch, which continued with yesterday's 1-1 draw at Stoke. [LNB]Such is the strength of feeling, that there is even talk that fansof the bitter rivals might unite for a protest against how their clubsare being run and the unhappy path down which English football seems tobe heading.[LNB] Do the men who control Portsmouth want a football club or a superstore?Portsmouth v Birmingham Premier League clash postponedJames back in World Cup limbo as Stoke pull out of Pompey keeper dealPORTSMOUTH FC
