Middle Eastern Investors Make Late Bid for Portsmouth

A Middle-Eastern consortium have become the third bidder for debt-laden Portsmouth FC.

The League One side, which lifted the FA Cup as a Premier League side just four years ago, are also subject to offers from the Portsmouth Supporters Trust and former owner Balram Chainrai ahead of the deadline on Friday 14^th September.

“We have received an initial offer from a Middle East-based group and are currently awaiting clarification of financial issues,” said a spokesman for PKF, the club's administrators.

The club have experience a heart-wrenching demise having been relegated to the third tier of English football last season following a 10-point penalty for going into administration whilst in the Championship.

Last week, administrator Trevor Birch said that no deals were close to completion which resulted in the Friday 14^th deadline to provide extra time for bids to be finalised.

"We have therefore decided to give all parties two weeks to finalise terms to acquire Portsmouth," he said.

"We will now work with Portpin and the Trust as they finalise their plans and seek to satisfy the Football League and the Professional Footballers' Association of their respective abilities to sustain the club in the future.

"We will also use this opportunity to request a review of the points deduction that is being held in abeyance on the club by the Football League."

A number of high-earning players agreed to terminate their contracts to help protect the long-term future of the club, whose squad is now made up of youngsters and a few experienced players on loan deals or short-term contracts.

The south coast club attracted a crowd of almost 18,000 for their first league fixture last month. The team, managed by Michael Appleton, finally gave their fans something to cheer with a superb 3-0 win at Crawley town on Sunday – their first league victory this season.