Portsmouth’s new owner Ali Al Faraj last night revealed he is NOT a billionaire and knows nothing about football.

He also plans to sell the Premier League's bottom club in six months time and said he was persuaded to buy the club when he was persuaded he could make a profit.

Al Faraj was billed as Pompey’s saviour when he bought them from fellow Middle East businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim earlier this month.

Manager Paul Hart believed he would get money to spend as he battled to lift them off the Premier League bottom spot.

But speaking for the first time since taking control, the Saudi Arabian property tycoon has admitted having to borrow £5 million to pay last month’s wages.

Al Faraj, who is looking for new investors to steer Pompey to financial stability, said: “We are going to purchase the remaining shares in the club by entry of additional partners, whether they are from the Gulf or Europe.

“Our plan is to stay at the club for a period of not less than six months, until the club stands again, benefiting the club as well as us.

“This is based on the fact that purchasing the club was purely investment and in the future we may sell it if we get additional gains.

“It’s not a secret to hide, we are investors and we have no relationship to sports, but at the same time we have an integrated team of legal and technical advisors.

“All are working at the club as executives and planners for more than five years and they know all the details and reasoning. This is natural in the business world.â€

Portsmouth still owe £10 million to the Inland Revenue, agents and rival Premier League clubs despite wiping out £30 million worth of debts since the turn of the year.

Supporters had hoped Al Faraj would stump up the cash to allow manager Paul Hart to spend his way to Premier League survival in the January transfer window.

Al Faraj, who describes himself as rich but not a billionaire, added: “We did not have the £5 million pounds (to pay the wages) but we agreed with three banks to finance the acquisition.

“They approved it based on the club financial guarantees we provided, such as annual revenue from TV coverage, the income of the club real estate and other assets.

“We did not we give these banks any personal guarantee.â€

Al Faraj also admitted he was reluctant to buy Pompey before being persuaded by legal advisor Mark Jacob he could make a profit.

“The British friend of my brother Ahmed had convinced me that the possibility of investing in the club is very large and all they have to do is to cover the club’s debts, and the gains will be in the short term.â€

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/New-P...icle197983.html

This club just keeps finding itself in more and more trouble. Already had two takeovers this season alone, lost all of their good players, lost harry, bottom of the table. Don't think Avram will be too impressed by this either.

Initially Paul Hart was told he would have something like 80mil to spend in january to try avoid relegation. I would say that is an inevitability now. Good news for me though is that if they get relegated i make 30 bucks. Every cloud has a silver lining i guess :P

i'm glad this has happened. maybe now it'll make clubs think twice about whoring themselves out to the middle east

it may be slightly hypocritical given our own background but football is in trouble of becoming about which middle eastern consortium has the money to splash out the most

the dippers are the worst at it. every month or so it's someone new wanting to buy out gillett

and what happened to the so called "fit and proper persons" test. surely that has a clause about buying a club purely for a quick profit. the fa are tools

Edited October 23, 200916 yr by sexelk

Shame for Pompey, but he think that he can buy now and sell in six months for a profit???

If portsmouth are looking likely for the drop, then I think he's made a major mistake in thinking he can turn a quick profit!

Part of me wishes that this completely backfires on him. But to be fair, I quite like Portsmouth, they've never done anything wrong in my book, and they do need a better owner than this guy, so he should sell.

Edited October 23, 200916 yr by Ruh Buh Juh

and it gets even worse for them, now they have a transfer embargo as they were unable to pay their debts.

Portsmouth's season has descended yet further into chaos with the Premier League now hitting them with a transfer ban.

Pompey manager Paul Hart found himself in a farcical situation on Monday when he

lined up free-agent Eugen Bopp as an emergency signing for last night’s Carling Cup

encounter with Stoke — which his side won 4-0 — only to then discover that the troubled club had been issued with the indefinite transfer embargo.

The Premier League have taken the drastic action because of Portsmouth’s debts to other English clubs that remain outstanding, and not until those debts are paid,

Sportsmail understands, will the ban be lifted.

It doesn't rain, but it pours: Pompey manager Paul Hart has been hit by a transfer ban

Because so many of Portsmouth’s players were cup-tied for last night’s match, Hart was desperate to bring in Bopp. He had worked with the Ukrainian-born German

midfielder at Nottingham Forest and invited him to Fratton Park on a trial over the summer.

But it was made clear to Portsmouth by the Premier League that not until they settle their debts will they be able to take on further financial liabilities — even if that liability is a player who, having had his last contract terminated by Crewe at the end of last season, would have been both free and cheap.

The Premier League pointed to the fact that it would be madness to sign more players when they experienced such difficulties in paying the ones they already have at the end of last month.

Friends in high places: Storrie

Peter Storrie, the chief executive of the club that currently sits bottom of the Barclays Premier League, admitted recently that they are still struggling with debts of around £10million after selling the majority of their best players.

They owe money not just to other Premier League clubs but to Barclays Bank and a number of agents.

‘It is true that we owe a couple of top agents a great deal of money, and if you say it is £3million I can confirm it is not far short of that figure,’ said Storrie earlier this month.

‘But there are other agents owed their commissions as well. It is through my friendship with them that they are not banging on the door. They have been really understanding. But we have owed money to a number of clubs, and they have also been helpful.

‘I have been asking people to be patient, but they cannot be expected to be patient forever.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...ansfer-ban.html

Their FA Cup win must seem a world away.

Pay up Pompey,

Pompey pay up !

Arabs out of Football now!!

Russians are OK. :angry:

according to the mirror the ban is there because of money owed to us and arsenal for glen jonson and lassana diarra

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Forme...icle203857.html

I like Pompey, and wish the best for them, but this is extraordinary. How, in the age of the internet, instant communication, and background checks that vet your last 10 years of stool samples, has this happened to a Premier League club twice in six months? What kind of clowns are on the board there? When someone comes in and says "Your problems are over, because I am a billionaire and we can spend our way to safety, and eventually european glory and silverware" shouldnt the first thing be to check "Does this person have any money"?

Maybe this is just public perception run amok. If someone from the middle east buys a football club they must be rich, right? But if Pompey knew about this, why would the sanction it? None of it makes any sense.

Same thing for Al Faraj, too. Who on earth told him this club, which is currently fighting for its life in the banks and on the pitch, was a good investment?

Even in League 1, they must be killing themselves laughing at St. Mary's. I can certainly see them both in the Championship next year

Edit: Nevermind, Soton are third from bottom.

Edited October 29, 200916 yr by TheWestwayWonder