A national tabloid is desperately attempting to dirty the name of Portsmouth F.C in a selection of apparent ‘exclusives’.
These are claiming that all is not what it should be with the proposed take-over of the blues by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim.
The Sun newspaper, infamous for their diabolical smear campaign against Liverpool supporters following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, claim to have ‘inside information’ on the exact goings on at the club.
Disgraced journalist Shaun Custis, A Newcastle United supporter, is constantly claiming that Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai MP and former owner of Manchester City, is directly involved with the sale of Pompey, and is an investor for Al Fahim’s Falcon equity group.
The newspaper is also claiming that Premier League chairman Dave Richards is also an integral part of the deal – A statement that, if true, could result in the deal falling through.
However, both Shinawatra and Richards have tirelessly insisted that neither party have anything to do with Pompey. Posted on the clubs’ official site, Shinawatra was quoted as saying “I am not involved with Sulaiman Al Fahim`s bid in any way.
“I have no interest in Portsmouth FC and furthermore I have no plans to become involved in any football club in the future.
“I have been surprised and shocked by the media coverage and my name being linked with this club. There is absolutely no truth in this.”
Despite this, it seems that even words from the horses mouth itself are having no immediate impact on the sun’s group of ‘reporters’, and in the most recent episode of the national tabloids’ apparent findings – now with it’s own name, ‘Pompeygate’ – the recent news of Al Fahim’s move from being the chief executive of Hydra Properties have seemingly been twisted in a way never before thought possible.
The tabloid is also claiming that one of the chairmen of Hydra Properties is the brother of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayhan, which would also throw the deal into jeopardy, as no two Premiere league clubs are to be owned by the same controlling interest.
Once again, however, it seems as if the facts far outweigh the fiction. Al Fahim has insisted, on many occasions, that Hydra Properties has nothing to do with Pompey in the slightest, and is a separate business entity entirely, effectively ruling out any kind of ‘link’ there may be between the controlling interests of the club.
Despite all this, Al Fahim has shown the upper hand, making clear his interest in the club is not unfounded, and that the takeover is proceeding as planned, with due diligence expected to be completed in the early weeks of July.
It would seem that as desperate as they are to scrabble through the dirt to try and find a smoking gun under Pompey’s pillow, all the Sun’s journalists are coming up with are weak stories with little or no credibility about them at all.
In effect, it would seem that disgruntled Pompey supporters will have to grin and bear the Sun’s tirade on the club, and dismiss any further stories as they find them – poorly constructed, with little or no evidence to back the findings. Until the Sun either lose interest and move on, or shoot themselves in the foot and find themselves with a legal battle on their hands for libel against the club, it would be very wise to ignore anything the tabloid say and take it as face value – utter drivel.
Written by powered_by_pies.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
