Gaydamak - Don't blame me

Former Portsmouth chief points finger at current regime

Last updated: 6th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Gaydamak - Don't blame me

Gaydmak: Left Pompey in 2009

Related links

Teams

Also see

Former Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak insists he is not to blame for the current plight at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth have again struggled to pay players' wages this month and the club's current owner Ali Al Faraj has suggested that Gaydamak's regime was responsible.

Gaydamak, who sold the club to Sulaiman al-Fahim in August before he then sold it on to Al Faraj just weeks later, insists the club was not in severe trouble when he left.

Gaydamak claims he is owed £28million by Pompey and the club is facing a winding up petition from HM Revenue and Customs.

"It is my opinion that they [the debts] were fully serviceable and no worse or better than any other club in the context of the Premier League. In fact, the debt ratio at Portsmouth was probably one of the lowest," Gaydamak told Fansonline.

No surprises

"The people who tried to buy the club were very persistent. They tried to buy it in the summer and I decided not to sell to them because I could not be sure who was behind them and I could not be sure of the source of their money.

"These chaps knew what they were getting. They must have realised there is a wage bill and the tax bill to meet every month. There are no surprises."

Gaydamak says he has written off a further £20million and added: "I made around £50million in shareholder and directors loans to the club during my time.

"After Sulaiman had completed the due diligence, we sat down with his advisors and it was agreed to sell the club for £1 with me continuing to guarantee the now famous £2.5million debt to Barclays and leaving loans totalling £28million of which £9million is due for repayment this month and the rest in 2012.

"This was our contractual agreement, but in effect I had written off around £20million of the loans I made."