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December 30 – Premier League strugglers Portsmouth, who won the FA Cup last year, have been issued with a winding up petition by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and could be the first Premier League club forced into bankruptcy.
The petition was presented on December 23 but a full court hearing will not take place until February 10.
If HMRC has not recovered its money from Portsmouth by then, the club could be declared bankrupt and a receiver appointed.
Bottom of the table Pompey are currently operating under a transfer embargo due to their financial problems.
Portsmouth have been told by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore that the embargo will remain in place until they can find at least £10 million to satisfy the demands of their list of creditors, which is believed to also include Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford and former owner Alexandre Gaydamak.
The Fratton Park club will be paid £7 million of broadcast revenue from the Premier League soon and the money is expected to go straight to those creditors.
But Portsmouth claimed they were still surprised by the actions of HMRC.
A statement said: ”To date the new owner has injected a total of £9.7 million of new funds to HMRC – £5.7 million paid and security to the value of £4 million pounds.
“In such a tough economic environment the club finds it hard to understand this action by HMRC.
“The club is disputing the VAT amount outstanding and has formally notified HMRC of this.
“We expect HMRC to withdraw their demands forthwith.”
A Premier League spokesman said: “We continue to monitor Portsmouth’s situation closely and remain in frequent dialogue with the club.
“Clearly, we hope they settle any issues they have with the HMRC before the court hearing in February.”
Portsmouth have endured a traumatic year in 2009.
A bid from Sulaiman Al Fahim was accepted in May and he completed his takeover in August.
At the start of October the club admitted failing to pay players’ wages on time and on October 5 Al Fahim sold 90 per cent of his Portsmouth shares to Ali Al Faraj.
Early this month the club confirmed that players’ wages had been delayed again.
On the pitch Paul Hart was sacked on November 24 and two days later Avram Grant succeeded him as manager.
Pompey are currently four points adrift of Hull City, Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.
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