Curious links in Portsmouth's twisted chain of ownership

When Sacha Gaydamak bought a 50% stake in Portsmouth from Milan Mandaric in 2006 he set in train a complex sequence of events that ended yesterday with the formal announcement that it had become the first Premier League club to go into administration. Even under Mandaric, the chief executive Peter Storrie and Harry Redknapp controversy was never far away. All three have since been charged with alleged tax evasion, all protesting their innocence. But it was Gaydamak's purchase, converted from a 50% holding into full ownership later that year, that really started the churning of the rumour mill. The club and its owner invested heavily in players, attracting David James, Sol Campbell and Jermain Defoe and splashing out £11m on Peter Crouch just months after lifting the FA Cup for the first time in 69 years. By then, however, Gaydamak had ordered Storrie to begin balancing the books. Throughout his tenure there were questions about whether he was merely acting as a front for his billionaire father Arkady, who was convicted in his absence in France last year on charges of illegal arms trading and sentenced to six years in prison. He fled to Moscow. The Premier League convinced itself that Gaydamak Jr was indeed the "ultimate beneficial owner" through his Devondale Investments company. The club insisted Portsmouth had been bought and bankrolled by his French-born son. Gaydamak Jr remains a key player because he claims to be owed more than £30.5m in unsecured loans. He still owns five key pockets of land around the stadium, including that on which the club's offices sit. With Barclays and the South African Standard Bank demanding repayment of more than £50m in loans, Gaydamak instructed Storrie to find new investment. Storrie was last summer keen to do a deal with Ali Abdullah al-Faraj, who he said was the "real deal" and capable of taking them "to another level". But instead Gaydamak sold to Sulaiman al-Fahim, the flamboyant Emirati who sold six weeks later for just £1. Al-Fahim now looks like an anomaly in the web of connections between the other players. Storrie and Pini Zahavi, the Israeli super-agent who brought Avram Grant to the south coast and is a recurring figure in the saga, returned to al-Faraj. Meanwhile the lawyer Mark Jacob appeared, and appeared to supplant Storrie as the man in day-to-day control of the club. Yesterday the London solicitors Fuglers, where the club had held its client account, announced he had "ceased to be a partner" at the firm. Meanwhile wages were paid late and the fire sale of players continued. In all the club has raised north of £70m through sales yet still carried debts of around £70m went it entered administration. Redknapp, who left for Tottenham, has repeatedly remarked on this. "To make something like £60m from players and end up in the debt they are in, I find it extraordinary really," he said. The Premier League imposed a transfer embargo and used the club's TV income to pay debts. The year ended with a winding-up petition over £11.4m of PAYE and VAT debts. The Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai was once a business associate of Arkady Gaydamak but the pair are believed to have fallen out. In September last year Chainrai and his associate Levi Kushni successfully sued Gaydamak for £14.5m. A similar sum was then loaned to the club by Portpin Ltd, Chainrai's company, secured on the ground and the club. Daniel Azougy, a former lawyer and convicted fraudster, played a key role during this period, overseeing the transfers of Younes Kaboul to Spurs and Asmir Begovic to Stoke. The Premier League asked about his role but was unable to act because he claimed to be only an adviser. Last March the Israeli business magazine Calcalist reported that Azougy and Shlomo Narkis had met Arkady Gaydamak in Moscow, where he is in exile. Narkis reportedly offered Gaydamak a $50m loan secured on assets frozen by Israeli courts. Gaydamak has denied taking the loan but not having the meeting. When it became clear that al-Faraj did not have the means to deal with the growing black hole at Fratton Park and defaulted on a repayment to Chainrai, ownership passed to the man known as Balou. Azougy was said no longer to have a role. But when Portsmouth appeared in court last month in a failed bid to fight off the winding-up order, the former lawyer was present. He was also believed to have been involved in the recent failed discussions over the sale of the club. The administrator Andrew Andronikou has given himself eight weeks to untangle the mess. "I promise you we will save your club," he said. Fans will be forgiven for waiting for proof. Five things that could have helped 1 Financial controls to be introduced next month by the Premier League, which require clubs to be up to date with all payments and offer future cashflow projections 2 A strengthened fit and proper person test across all leagues and FA may have helped to act as a deterrent but would probably not have caught any of Portsmouth's owners 3 Requiring clubs to submit a bond at the start of the season or proof of funds may have ensured the club did not run up a huge wage bill 4 A rule preventing clubs from changing ownership in the middle of the season 5 If new Uefa proposals on Financial Fair Play had been in place, Portsmouth would not have been allowed to spend more on football-related activities than they earned