Portsmouth fans insist club will survive

February 24, 2010

Portsmouth fans are seen protesting about the club´s financial problems before their FA Cup fourth round football match against Sunderland at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, England, on January 23
Portsmouth supporters insist their beleaguered club will survive even if it becomes the first Premier League outfit to go into administration on Friday.

Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai, who is Portsmouth’s fourth owner this season, is in talks with four different groups about a takeover, but he admits it is unlikely a deal will be completed in time to avoid a winding-up order in the High Court on Monday.

With no new influx of cash on the immediate horizon and the club in danger of going bust due to unpaid debts, Chainrai announced on Tuesday that he would rather put Portsmouth into administration than let the courts decide their fate because that would suspend the winding-up order.

That means almost certain relegation for Portsmouth, who are already bottom of the Premier League, as there is a nine-point penalty for any top-flight club going into administration, leaving Avram Grant’s side on just seven points — 16 behind their nearest rivals.

Playing in the Championship next season would trigger an exodus of Portsmouth’s best players, while the club will also have to find a new owner willing to deal with debts of 70 million pounds (80 million euros).

But despite the bleak outlook for Portsmouth, the club’s loyal fans, who have continued to sell out most matches at Fratton Park, believe their team will emerge intact from the ordeal.

Ken Malley, a member of the Football Supporters Federation who is on the Pompey Supporters Trust working committee, said: “I’ve supported Portsmouth for far too long to believe anything I read until it actually happens. Friday is still a long way away.

“As a fan, I’d rather we didn’t go into administration, there’s an awful lot of small businesses that lose out terribly if we do, so I’m not happy about that side of things.

“I’m just anxious that sooner or later we get some owners that are transparent and attempt to work with the community and the fans. If we get owners that do then we, as Portsmouth Trust, will be more than happy to work with them.

“There’ll always be a Portsmouth Football Club, whatever happens. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to make sure that a phoenix would rise from the ashes in time for next season.

“One way or another, most decent football clubs are all about the fans rather than anything else at all and Portsmouth fans are here long-term, it’s as simple as that.”

Jo Collins, of the Portsmouth Supporters Trust, admits administration is the best option in the circumstances.

“I suspect a lot of fans would still be hoping, even at this stage, we would get another buyer anyway, and I think there was a feeling among many that Mr Chainrai might have opted to pay HM Revenue and Customs what they’re owed to avoid us going into administration,” she said.

“But I personally fully understand his motives for doing what he’s doing.

“I still cling to a little bit of hope that a buyer might pop up, a realistic one who knows what he’s doing and investing in and getting involved in, but if it’s going to be administration I think I’d have to say I’d settle for that.

“I think that probably is the next best step forward for the club — go into administration and really sort matters out.

“I think we’ve all pretty much resigned ourselves to relegation, even disregarding the nine-point deduction (in the event of administration).”

PORTSMOUTH, England (AFP)

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Taxes, sterling ´cost Premier League in players race´

July 17, 2009


English Premier League clubs are losing the battle for top European stars as the exchange rate and tax rises clobber their projected income, auditors Deloitte said on Friday.

Continental European players could see their net income plunge by a third from April 2010, when Britain’s new 50-percent top rate of income tax takes force — up from 40 percent.

“As a result, players and their agents are likely to request pay increases to compensate them for this, leaving clubs with a choice between an increase in their wage bill or potentially losing the player to an overseas rival,” Deloitte said in a report.

According to research conducted by their Sports Business Group, Premier League clubs could face wage demands up to 70 percent higher than their rivals in Europe’s other top leagues: Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

If a player negotiating a new contract this pre-season demanded three million euros (4.2 million dollars) per annum after tax, the cost to a Premier League club following the income tax increase in April 2010 would be 6.8 million euros, Deloitte said.

That is 70 percent more than the four million euros it would cost a Spanish club to give a foreign player the same net pay.

The British figure is also higher than clubs in France (6.7 million euros), Italy (5.7 million euros) and Germany (5.4 million euros) would have to pay.

“The summer transfer window opened over a month ago, but Premier League clubs are yet to make significant acquisitions from overseas,” said Pete Hackleton, senior manager in the Sports Business Group.

“Real Madrid has already spent a reported 200 million euros on three players from other big European leagues — Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema — but we have not yet seen a significant influx of talent to the Premier League.

“The reduced value of sterling against the euro and the proposed increase in the top rate of income tax are contributing factors to this.”

Spain’s La Liga first division is the main alternative to the Premier League for top talent, Deloitte said, thanks to its tax system which allows temporary non-Spanish residents to be taxed at 24 percent.

Britain’s 50 percent tax rate will apply to any annual income above 150,000 pounds (245,000 dollars, 175,000 euros) as the Treasury seeks to claw back lost tax revenue caused by a deep recession.

LONDON (AFP)

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Ronaldo downplays treble expectations

July 6, 2009


Former Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be unveiled as a Real Madrid player on Monday, has insisted that fans should not expect a repeat of Barcelona’s unprecedented treble.

Madrid based giants Real, were left in the lurch after Catalonia giants Barcelona made a clean sweep by winning the Primera Division, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles.

Following last terms debacle, coupled with the arrival of new president Florentino Perez, who has been successful in bringing Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol to the Santiago Bernabéu, things might never remain the same.

But the World player of the year does not believe that Madrid fans should expect too much too soon, despite the influx of talent.

“We are going to take it step by step,” he told Spanish daily Marca.

“The priority is the league. The Champions League is very nice, but it also depends on luck and the ties that you get.”

“It’s going to be a difficult mission to get the double, although I think we are going to do well in both.”

“We know that we must work very seriously to achieve our objectives and I think that we are going to do very well.”

The 24-year-old, who spent six hugely successful years in England with Manchester United before his world-record £80million switch to Madrid this summer, added: “My hope is to win at Real Madrid everything that I won during my time at Manchester United. With the structure Real Madrid have, this is possible.

“The new players that have arrived must fit in well with those already here so that all together we can win many things at Madrid and make the club a little greater still.”

Ronaldo’s presentation this evening follows that of Kaka, who was introduced to the fans last week.

And with two of the best players in the world moving to Madrid, Ronaldo believes the Primera Division now has the edge on the Premier League he has left behind.

“The Premier League is a very good competition, but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more quality because of the players that are arriving,” he said.

“Both leagues are going to be very good, but I think that with Florentino Perez’s signings the Spanish league is superior to the English.”

“It’s going to be a magnificent competition in Spain this year. All the players have a lot of quality and the referees protect the players more.”

By : Abhimanyu Rajput

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Rome tries to avoid ´Stab City´ tag

May 26, 2009


ROME (AFP) – Authorities in Rome have been moving to try to calm concerns that Wednesday’s Champions League final risks being marred by fan violence.

Rome has been somewhat unkindly nicknamed ‘Stab City’ by English fans and press alike due to a number of previous incidents over the years where English fans have been stabbed by AS Roma supporters when coming to the Italian capital to watch their team in the Champions League.

There was even a campaign in a British newspaper earlier this year to try to get the venue changed from Rome, something which outraged the Italians.

And the British Foreign Office has now sent out warnings for fans to avoid certain ‘hot spots’ such as the Ponte Duca d’Aosta where Roma’s Ultras have previously laid in wait for English fans.

Rome is already mobilising for the influx of more than 50,000 fans – at conservative estimates – who will mostly start arriving on Tuesday afternoon through to Wednesday morning.

The sale of alcohol throughout the city, in supermarkets as well as bars and restaurants will be banned from Tuesday to Thursday, meaning English fans in particular will have to be creative if they wish to get drunk.

Even in FergieFields, a private area being set up for United fans that can hold up to 2,000 people, alcohol will be off limits.

But despite the alcohol ban another worry is the lack of big screen TVs, which won’t be set up around the city for ticketless fans to watch the game.

That means the thousands of expected fans coming to the city but can’t get into the ground will be crammed into bars and pubs, other potential flashpoints.

But Rome prefect Giuseppe Pecoraro insists things won’t be as bad as everyone is making out.

“Rome won’t be a militarised city but over these last few days we’ve been working so that this important event can take place in the calmest climate possible,” he said.

One thing the city’s police have provided is two welcome areas, one each for English and Spanish supporters in two large squares, although not the more common congregational areas in the city such as Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona and Pantheon.

“We’ve left nothing to chance but we’re not excluding the possibility of individual incidents of violence which often happen at these types of events due to alcohol abuse,” said police chief Giuseppe Caruso.

However, despite the obvious scaremongering about Rome, the city is actually worried about the potential it will give off a bad image and mayor Gianni Alemanno has called on citizens, businesses and fans to do their home town proud.

“We all must be aware that the possibility of Rome hosting other events will depend on the success of this sporting event,” he said.

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Premier League domination set to end: Wenger

April 27, 2009

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LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger believes that the economic crisis and Britain’s new 50 percent income tax rate will seriously stem the influx of foreign stars to the English Premier League.

British Chancellor Alistair Darling this week revealed plans to raise the top rate of income tax to 50 percent for earnings over 150,000 pounds a year – a policy the Frenchman thinks could prove prohibitive to well-paid footballers.

The falling value of sterling against the euro is another concern, with clubs’ spending power significantly hit by the plummeting pound.

Asked whether English football relied too heavily on imported talent, the Arsenal manager said: “Don’t worry, that time will soon be over because with the new taxation system and with the collapse of sterling… the domination of the Premier League will end.

“The pound was at 1.45 or 1.60 (euros) at one stage…from one day to the next it will be a financial problem for all the English clubs.”

Birmingham co-owner David Sullivan echoed Wenger’s sentiments, predicting that England would no longer enjoy pre-eminence in the transfer market.

“The pound and the tax are issues because the majority of players still come from the eurozone,” Sullivan told The Times.

“If players think tax changes mean they’re losing out, they will ask for more.

“They do their sums, their agents do their sums and if you don’t pay what they want maybe they go.

“The Premier League clubs have had an extraordinary 10-15 years where they’ve achieved total domination.

“If that reverses it’s hardly a correction we can moan about, it’s just a levelling of the playing field.”

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Alpine Bau wins bid for Warsaw Euro 2012 stadium

April 16, 2009

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WARSAW (AFP) – German-Austrian construction group Alpine Bau has been picked to build the stadium in the Poland’s capital Warsaw which is set to host the opening match of Euro 2012, Polish authorities said Wednesday.

Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki said that Alpine Bau, which has formed a consortium with the Polish group Hydrobudowa, won the bidding to build the 55,000-seat Vistula riverside venue after coming up with a 1.25-billion-zloty (289-million-euro, 385-million-dollar) offer.

The bids of the consortium’s five rivals weighed in at between 1.29 billion and 2.23 billion zlotys, Drzewiecki said.

According to the timetable for the European football championships, the Warsaw stadium is meant to be ready by May 2011, a year ahead of the start of the tournament.

The Alpine Bau-Hydrobudowa consortium has already won the contract for two other Euro 2012 venues. It is due to construct a 44,000-seat stadium in the Baltic port city of Gdansk and upgrade one in the western city of Poznan into a 47,000-seat arena.

The price tag of the Gdansk and Poznan contracts is 184.5 million euros.

In 2007, football’s governing body UEFA sparked surprise by choosing Poland and Ukraine as the co-hosts of Euro 2012 ahead of much-fancied Italy.

Poland and Ukraine have since been dogged by concerns about their ability to meet their commitments regarding the construction of stadia.

Worries have also focused on upgrading hotels to cope with the influx of fans, plus transport infrastructure, which is sometimes left over from the communist era and has suffered years of under-investment.

But UEFA chief Michel Platini, who is visiting both nations this week, reaffirmed in Ukraine on Wednesday that the championships would go ahead as scheduled.

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