TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Fabio Capello to stand by John Terry due to lack of alternatives as England captain England manager set to keep faith with Chelsea man as captain due to lack of viable alternatives before World Cup. telegraph.co.uk |
Newcastle v Derby - live match centre! Championship: Will Newcastle pull further away at the top? Follow the key match action with our stats service guardian.co.uk |
Moore joins Greek club Kavala Socceroos defender Craig Moore has joined Greek Super League club AO Kavala, according to the club's website. foxsports.com.au |
Soccer: Chicago Out in Cold in World Cup Bid Chicago is the home of the United States Soccer Federation, but apparently not its kind of town when it comes to potential sites for the 2018 or the 2002 World Cup. feeds.nytimes.com |
Pompey expect embargo 'to be lifted' • Repayments agreed with Udinese• Team will deal during transfer windowPortsmouth expect their transfer embargo to be lifted tomorrow morning after sources at the club claimed Udinese had agreed to the rescheduling of the balance of around £3.6m still owed for the transfer of Sulley Muntari in 2007.The development comes at the start of what could be a crucial nine days for the club before the transfer window closes on 1 February – a period that also includes a home match against relegation rivals West Ham on Tuesday.Sources at Fratton Park said last night that the Premier League have been supplied with documents confirming the agreement with Udinese, which will involve regular payments of around €525,000. If the embargo is lifted, manager Avram Grant will have nine days to strengthen his skeletal squad, though how much finance the Israeli would have to work with depends entirely on player sales. Mike Williamson is close to a move to Newcastle, though it is thought this may now be a loan deal rather than a transfer, while David Nugent may also not return from his loan at Burnley.Before yesterday's FA Cup win over Sunderland at Fratton Park the club's hierarchy met to discuss ongoing strategy. The meeting included Peter Storrie, the chief executive, Sulaiman al-Fahim, the non-executive chairman, and Daniel Azougy, the Israeli lawyer in charge of raising finance. Outside, a group of around 500 fans gathered to shout abuse about the owner Ali al-Faraj and the senior executives. They presented a petition to Storrie, who received it to further jeers.In a separate development, Portpin, the company that has provided short-term bridging loans to Portsmouth totalling £23m to enable the club to keep operating, has demanded the Premier League pay the money it says is still due.Sources at Portpin, which is owned by businessmen Levi Kushnir, Balram Chainrai and partners, claim that the governing body have been served with a legal notice asking them for the funds after this month's £7m payment was paid directly to some of the club's football creditors.The League, though, are confident that they have rules in place which are legally watertight stating that any bank or other loanee of a club will receive only the net monies of what remains once football creditors have been paid. Portpin are examining if the rules have ever been tested.Regarding the overall position, Storrie attempted to address fans' concerns in the match programme."Ali Al Faraj and his associates are doing all they can to bring in new finance to stabilise the situation and to deal with the court action also being taken against us by HM Revenue & Customs. They have already invested substantial funds to pay creditors and keep the club running, but the problem goes back to Sacha [Gaydamak]'s decision to stop investing and the withdrawal of facilities by our two banks, Standard Bank of South Africa and Barclays."As we know, the financial world has changed and banks are simply not as keen to expose themselves to the world of football. When you have a facility of more than £40m taken away then it is going to be very difficult for any business to operate as it has before. Everyone is working hard to put back in place that kind of financial backing to stabilise the club and move it forward."Premier LeaguePortsmouthTransfer windowJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |