Qatar Airways is owed the sum of 20p ($0.30) by Portsmouth FC, according to the English Premier League club’s administrators.
As revealed in a financial report to creditors released on Wednesday, the Gulf airline is one of more than 400 companies and individuals owed money by the troubled football club.
“We’re still trying to work out how this came about, but it’s fair to say the airline won’t go bust,” a spokesperson for Qatar Airways told Arabian Business.
The report confirms that Portsmouth, who will be relegated from the Premier League at the end of the current season, have total debts of £119m ($184m). Other Middle East creditors include Abu Dhabi businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim, who is owed £5m ($7.7m) in unsecured loans to the club.
Al Fahim signed an agreement to take over the club in May 2009, with a view to completing the purchase by the end of July. The report notes that “even though insufficient proof of funding was provided” by Al Fahim, the transaction proceeded.
The deal ran into difficulty when it transpired that Al Fahim “was looking to fund the purchase via costly debt funding as opposed to equity”, and the Emirati eventually retained only a 10 percent share of the club. Al Fahim put £5m ($7.7m) into the club before passing the remaining 90 percent stake to Saudi businessman Ali Al Faraj.
The unsecured creditors are owed £92.7m ($143m) in total, and are expected to be offered between 20p and 25p in the British pound across three to five years. However, lead administrator Andrew Andronikou refuses to be drawn on what the final offer – to be put to creditors on 6 May – will be.
Portsmouth’s problems can be traced back to 2008, when former owner Alexandre Gaydamak overstretched the club just as the world’s financial structures hit trouble. Banks called in loans and a series of new owners were unable to provide working capital. Finally, UK Revenue & Customs issued a winding-up petition late last year.
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