Soccer:English Championship club Portsmouth are likely to go out of business after a deal to remove them from administration was scuppered today, the club said in a statement.
Portsmouth, who were relegated from the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final last season after a turbulent period financially, said the administrators "are unable to support the continued trading of the club".
Portsmouth said a deal to exit administration had been agreed by the new owners, the administrators, the Football League and the creditors only to then be made "impossible to complete" by key creditor Alexandre 'Sacha' Gaydamak.
Portsmouth said Gaydamak had been offered full payment for the secured part of his debt "in accordance with the financial plan approved by the Football League".
However, the club added that he "has demanded a very significant upfront cash payment in order to allow the deal to proceed by releasing his security."
"All other parties had managed to reach agreement," read the club statement. "This has now been undermined by the self-interested actions of one individual. Mr
Gaydamak has provided confirmation several times that terms were agreed. However, he has continually changed his position in an attempt to exploit the goodwill of the other parties to the transaction."
The statement continued: "His earlier comments when the club went into Administration about doing everything possible to save the club's future do not appear to reflect his current actions."
Gaydamak, who owned Portsmouth between 2006 and 2009 and celebrated an FA Cup triumph in 2008, sold the south-coast club to Sulaiman Al Fahim after which it changed hands several times.
In February, the club went into administration and its debts have since risen to about €135million. Their most recent attempt to exit administration was vetoed in October.
Despite today's gloomy statement, Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou said Gaydamak's new demands were an "obstacle that must be cleared. We are trying to get Sacha Gaydamak to see sense," he added.
After a poor start to the current campaign, Portsmouth have won four of their last five league matches and sit 15th in the 24-team standings after 12 games.