Al Fahim

Fans to wait for summer for investment

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:04:00 +0000

Al Fahim is currently in Spain where he is indulging one of his great loves, chess. He was a very useful chess player in his youth and supports the UAE chess federation and has secured an invitation to the Karpov-Kasparov battle in Valencia.

He gave several interviews to the Spanish media where he discussed chess and his role at Portsmouth FC. The Guardian picked up one of the interviews where Al Fahim indicates that there is likely to be no major investment until the summer as the 'necessary liquidity' will only be available at this time.

Portsmouth supporters, who are already concerned by the performance on the pitch, are not expected to be pleased at this news. Al Fahim is due to meet a group of fans ahead of the game against in-form Everton on Saturday.

Guardian extract:

"We're not in a hurry to sign stars and we're not going to go into the transfer market at the moment. We'll probably start signing next summer when we have the necessary liquidity to do so. It depends on how the business side of things evolves between now and then but that would be the logical stage [to do so].

"My model of a club is Arsenal. The philosophy they have of signing young players so that they can grow within the club is ideal. Barcelona are the perfect example too – they signed Lionel Messi at 13 and developed him from the start.

"We have come into Portsmouth because we see an enormous amount of potential here – if we chose this club ahead of others it was precisely because of that potential," he said. "But we have to start by giving the club the right infrastructure. We have to do things at the right time and right now the priority for Portsmouth is to create the foundations so that it can be a stable and serious club in the future."

Al Fahim's publicity drive in the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:44:00 +0000

Al Fahim is currently in the USA attempting to raise additional funding. He has given a series of interviews to unquestioning and somewhat under-researched reporters. We have posted the article from Saturday's Washington Times.

Al Fahim makes three notable comments:

He advises that manager Paul Hart has been been given the player budget that he has asked for.
He advises that he may take the Portmouth Ladies team on a tour of the Middle East
He discusses building a 40,000 seating stadium for Portsmouth.

Given what has gone on at the club it is simply inconceivable that that Hart asked Al Fahim for his current acquisition budget (largely free-transfer players). Hart has gone on record to say that the budget he is having to work to is even tighter than he was led to believe.

The Portsmouth Ladies team are not part of the Portsmouth club that Al Fahim has purchased.

Although Pompey fans have had a tough summer and gates have understandably fallen, there may not be sufficient demand for a 40,000 stadium as things stand (with current gates of around 18,000). A new stadium is likely to cost upwards of £60m and would probably generate an extra £13-17m a year if it could be filled most weeks. This extra income would need to be offset against the cost of servicing a loan of £60m - around £8m a year.

Eager to trump the past

By John Haydon

Sulaiman Al Fahim, an American University graduate, is the latest overseas businessman to buy into the English Premier League.

A native of the United Arab Emirates, Al Fahim became the sole owner of Portsmouth FC late last month in a deal worth $100 million. Nicknamed Pompey, Portsmouth FC was promoted to the prestigious Premier League in 2003 and came in 14th last season in the 20-team table.

Often referred to as the "Donald Trump of Abu Dhabi" for his real estate projects and "Apprentice"-style reality show, Al Fahim is eager to pump new life into his team.

"Portsmouth is a club that has potential to grow," the soft-spoken Al Fahim said Wednesday. "The club has a great history, established in 1898, and during the 1940s and 1950s was one of the biggest teams. Last year the club won the FA Cup. For me it just sounded really attractive to invest in the game."

The Premier League is a big attraction in the Middle East. Al Fahim said the television rights in the region for Premier League games cost $6 million in 1994; now, the rights sell for $350 million. A quarter of all the money in Europe generated through soccer comes from the Premier League, he said.

Al Fahim got involved in top-flight soccer a year ago. He was the key negotiator for the Abu Dhabi United Group, which purchased Manchester City in 2008 for $363 million. He left the group to buy his own team.

"With Manchester City I was part of a group, but Portsmouth is my personal work," Al Fahim said. "I have a long-term vision. The fans want me to spend money, but we can't match what Manchester City and Chelsea spend."

Portsmouth saw a number of its top players, including Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson, leave the club this summer. The team hosts Bolton on Saturday and is looking for its first win after opening the season under new coach Paul Hart with four loses.

"I told Paul Hart that from now on he should look for players and give me the budget," Al Fahim said. "I told him I don't want to see my club going down. I don't want my club to go below 14th."

To increase revenue, Al Fahim plans to build a 40,000-seat "eco-friendly green stadium" by 2018. The club's current venue holds 20,000.

"Portsmouth is the only Premier League team south of London and has a potential fan base of 8 million to draw from," Al Fahim said.

The Dubai-based businessman said he has no plans to invest in Major League Soccer but he does have contacts in United States monitoring American players.

Now in his early 30s, Al Fahim came to live and study at AU when he was 21 after the death of his parents and younger brother in a traffic accident in Dubai; he went on to earn a master's degree in business administration. He was back in the District to talk to congressional leaders about green housing.

Through the years, Al Fahim has promoted numerous sporting events in the United Arab Emirates, sometimes challenging prevailing traditions. He has funded horse-riding programs for women and said he wants to see more women play soccer in the Middle East. He even suggested taking the Portsmouth FC Ladies team on a tour of the region.

"We need to break concepts and perceptions," he said. "Sports is the best way to do that and bring people together."

Al Fahim also has invested resources to fight malnutrition and has funded a clinic in Kenya; he plans to open another in Haiti.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/12/eager-to-trump-the-past/

The truth is out there (finally)

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:20:00 +0000

The truth about Al Fahim's protracted takeover has finally been divulged by a an increasingly frustrated Peter Storrie.

In a meeting with a group of fans representing online fans forums and Pompey fan sites, Storrie disclosed the financial details of the takeover and explained the problems facing the club. We have printed the minutes of the meeting and can summarise the key issues:

Al Fahim is the 100 percent owner but has not secured the funding for the ongoing running costs of the club (including Inland Revenue bills)
Al Fahim is in the states trying to secure new funding
Other interested parties (Al Faraj) are still keen to invest in the club, however Al Fahim is loathe to dilute his position of full owner.
Gaydamak is still on the board to protect the debt the club owes him.
Gaydamak has lost £26m during his ownership of Portsmouth
Storrie is clearly worried about Al Fahim's lack of financing and has been openly critical of Al Fahim's lack of action
Storrie is also dissmissive of Al Fahim's craving for publicity
Al Fahim's love of the limelight may be an obstacle for Portsmouth FC

The full minutes:
Meeting between representatives of Portsmouth FC and Pompey Virtual Alliance
(PVA)

Held at the Sports Bar, Fratton Park at 11am on 12/09/09

Chair - Colin Farmery (PVA)

Minutes - Bill Gillon (PVA, pompeyonline.com)

Attendees: Portsmouth FC - Peter Storrie (Chief Executive Officer), Lucius Peart
(Head of Operations)

PVA: Scott Mclachlan (pompey.org), Brendon Bone (truebluearmy.com), Mike Hall
(pompey-fans.com), Vern Rickman and Jimmy Barton (pompeytillidie.com), Peter
Corrigan (pompeygossip.co.uk), Jim Bonner (frattonfaithful.co.uk), Dominic
Raywood (thepompeychimes.net), Albie Somerset (Pompey Cardigans), Glen Jones
(pompeyrama.com), Dave Allen (playuppompey.net), Ed Binks (Vennar Av Pompey),
Paul Morling and Dave Taylor (Vital Pompey)

Also in attendance: Johnny Moore (Supporter Relations Manager), Chris Hayler
(Brand & Marketing Manager), Mark Mudie (Observer)

Items for discussion;
1) Ownership of PFC
2) Debt position of PFC
3) Future investment for PFC
4) Role of fan websites
5) Next steps

Colin Farmery began by outlining the purpose of the meeting and the PVA, that being setting up a dialogue between the club and the websites, to communicate and listen to each other. The PVA currently covers the interests of thirteen Portsmouth FC fan websites, who are concerned at the current situation of the club. It was stated the it had to be understood that there were a variety of items which the club would be unable to answer because of confidentiality.
Each attendee of the meeting then introduced themselves and, where appropriate, which website they represented.

Colin then brought up the first item for discussion, the ownership of PFC. Note
that the resulting discussion also eventually incorporated items 2 and 3, so theseare dealt with in one section in the minutes.

Peter Storrie;
- Has been at the club for around seven years and, in that time, no owner has put equity into the business. Every owner has only increased club debt.
- Average turnover is £60 million, this year will be the first in which the club is close to break even (£30-£40 million on wages, £20 million on other costs). This leaves no money for player transfers when previously club has lost heavily each season.
- Has personally wanted to save the club over the last year, but acknowledged the tremendous help received from other Pompey staff.
- Has promised other clubs he will not leave Portsmouth so they know he is in
position to help player deals and payment of funds owed to clubs
- Stated that banks could have called in money at any time, and still could. Indeed Standard Bank called in the loans this was bringing the club down club down, hence players had to be sold.
- Banks compounded problem as club had to pay out loan fees immediately instead of staging permanent transfer fees
- Portsmouth are still paying transfer fees for players who have left the club but these will be cleared in January
- All Sky money received in August went straight to Standard Bank
- Club had to refinance so had to bring in owner who could put in equity
- Other clubs and agents have helped the club by putting back payments due
- Club can only break even additional finance is brought in with larger stadium, so owner will have to provide the equity

Question from Mike Hall - Has Sulaiman Al Fahim completed his takeover and, if so, where is his money?

Peter Storrie;
- In February, Peter was approached as Al Fahim was interested in buying the club.
Discussion took place then nothing else was heard
- In May, Peter received a call and subsequently met Al Fahim at the Champions
League Final in Rome. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed.
- Situation dragged on over next few months, Al Fahim was fully aware of effect on club
- Pini Zahavi approached Peter to raise awareness of the Al Farraj brothers interest in the club. Meeting was held and interest confirmed, things then moved quickly
- One member of Al Farraj consortium was suing Arcadi Gaydamak. Even after the Al Farraj brothers withdrew him, Al Fahim's offer was completed after he came up with the required money. This was probably driven by Arcadi Gaydamak due to the suing position. Al Fahim owns the club
- Al Fahim has not refinanced the club as things stand, and it is not sure when funds will be available. Al Fahim has assets but all tied up in business, no liquid assets. He is currently trying to raise new finance, but we have not heard whether this has been successful yet
- Al Fahim has club at heart but has, so far, only talked. Finance director not getting answers on how to fund the club, and Al Fahim doesn't yet understand how the club runs and how it relates to things like the Inland Revenue, but he is working hard to raise funds.

Additional from Mike Hall - Are the Al Farraj brothers still interested?

Peter Storrie;
- Yes, proposals are being discussed, but nothing could happen unless Al Fahim
agrees as he is the sole owner of the club
- In response to a follow up on why Al Fahim is being resistant, have to understand the individual, Al Fahim likes publicity
- Al Fahim will bring in his own people in time

Question from Scott McLachlan - Will he start releasing statements through the club?

Peter Storrie;
- Al Fahim has to stop releasing statements in other media outlets, it is concerning, especially as it has an effect on dealings with other clubs. When Al Fahim mentions he would like to sign various players, other clubs state that debts to them have to be paid before we sign those players mentioned
- Al Fahim is in the States trying to try to get club refinanced
- Al Farraj brothers are ready and waiting. Whilst 50/50 partnership would be legally improbable, share agreement could be discussed

Question from Colin Farmery - Are there any outstanding issues with Sacha
Gaydamak?

Peter Storrie;
- Gaydamak still sits on the board of the holding company (Miland 2004). Pointed
out that Gaydamak has written off £21m debts which the club had. There is no
impediment in the deal Al Fahim has done with Gaydamak, to prevent him selling the club on.

Question from Mike Hall - Is there any news on Al Fahim's claimed £100 million
bonus, and will this go into the club?

- Doesn't know about this, has just been told that Al Fahim is expecting a bonus

Question from PVA (sorry, didn't catch who this was) - Can the club shed any light on the supposed 48-page dossier?

Peter Storrie;
- Doesn't think this exists, and believes this was a publicity stunt

Question from Vern Rickman - Is Al Fahim listening to people regarding their views on his statements and his publicity stunts?

Peter Storrie;
- Al Fahim is doing his own thing, he doesn't appreciate how it comes over to fans, and doesn't really appreciate how things work but wants to attend next fans forum.

Question from Scott McLachlan - What can the club do to get confidence back in the club after a summer of broken promises, there is no enthusiasm for some people to come to Fratton Park?

Lucius Peart;
- The club’s image has taken a huge hit from unkind and inaccurate reporting, and everyone at the club has suffered. The club understand how hard it is for the fans as people at the club have found it hard work

Peter Storrie;
- Haven't got the finance to start the training ground as it stands, or to start work on turning the ground. We have a fantastic new design for the ground and this can be moved quickly with finance. Would like a 4,000 to 5,000 family enclosure. Also said that what doesn't help is other clubs returning late tickets as Portsmouth have to sell these tickets at the same price the returning club was charging.

Lucius Peart;
- As a thank you to STH’s he said the club are announcing two increases in discount to Season Ticket Holders.
As a thank you to STH’s we are delighted to announce 2 increases in discount to STH.
1) From now on STH will receive 20% off the launch prices of any replica kit
purchase(shirt, shorts, socks). This means STH’s can get a S/S home adult shirt for as little as £28.00. This offer is open until 30th November 2009 and should prove useful with the home kit just being launched & the new 3rd kit being released on Oct 7th.
2) Additionally, STH normal discount of 5% has been increased to 10% from today and will run until May 31st 2010.
This means any full priced item can now be bought for 10% off in the PFC shops.
This offer does not apply on line as these shirts are currently at a higher price and STH would not benefit from the full discounts.
For STH to receive their discount they must provide their own valid season ticket at the tills when purchasing.

Question from Peter Corrigan - It's great to have players who want to be here instead of the "overpaid, sulky" players we did have, but will Peter Storrie be staying?

Peter Storrie;
- Yes, he has just bought a new house and turned down a huge offer from a big club.
Happenings do get him down but has been reassured by messages from fans. Would like to see how club can get fans back to games who just come to the one or two games a season

Comment from Jim Bonner - Has seen and talked to other fans who would love to be in our position, in the top leagues having just won the FA Cup.

Peter Storrie;
- Partly the club's fault for allowing expectations to get too high.

Question from Dave Taylor - Could Portsmouth take advantage of the 20,000 students due in the city this year and look at discounts for them to help fill the stadium and
what do the club think of the Mirror article of the 12th which basically stated the fans were in revolt over unanswered questions?

Lucius Peart;
- Yes, working with Portsmouth University and also sponsoring their athletic teams. The club has very good relations with the fans.

Peter Storrie;
- Shocked by the number of supporting emails he has received over recent times

Comment from Vern Rickman - Feels that Peter has had a good summer, and it has shown how much he cares about the club, with what he has done and said.

The chairman then moved the discussion onto Point 4, role of fan websites.
What can the websites do for the club and how can we move forward?

Peter Storrie;
- Club has lowered prices on Milton End tickets and season ticket holders are
receiving discoounts on shirts until the end of November
- Try and quell expectations of Al Fahim, he is the way he is
- Promote ticket sales, let's get people back to Fratton Park
Comment from Scott McLachlan - If we are going down, all we want is to go down fighting and we need to attack teams more

Peter Storrie;
- Paul Hart has never felt he had the players to play an attacking formation, especially in midfield. Now has his own players
- Atmosphere on training ground is vastly improved, and players have requested
double sessions

Point 5, Next Steps

Peter Storrie confirmed he is happy to have these meetings every two months
Regular meetings will also be held with

Johnny Moore and Chris Hayler on how the club and websites can work together.

Meeting closed: 12.02

Old errors still persist

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:11:00 +0000

The journalist Matt Scott at the Guardian has been one of the better UK journalists over the 'Al Fahim affair'. His recent article on the takeover paperwork is particularly interesting.

Al Fahim signed the official paperwork, registered with the FAPL as 'Dr' Al Fahim. Quite why he persists with this bogus title on legal documents is bewildering.

He also gave his occupation as 'Goodwill Ambassador'. Regular readers will recall that this relates to the rather suspect IIMSAM organisation which is already being investigated by the UN for maintaining that they are part of the UN. There have been a number of questions about the funding and deliverables of IIMSAM and it would be truly worrying if they were able to support Al Fahim in a way that made it his 'full-time' occupation.

Link to Guardian

The start of the Al Fahim era

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:02:00 +0000

At the first home game of the season against Manchester City, Al Fahim was at last able to celebrate his ownership of the club.

Al Fahim wore a replica Portsmouth Away shirt and a baseball hat. He even had his name and year of birth (77) printed on the back. During half-time and at the start of the second half, he paraded round the ground milking the applause. He embraced a number of the disabled fans and then sat with the fans for the start of the second half.

Some fans were not impressed and the UK journalists were quick to pour scorn Al Fahim. These kind of gestures and this 'self-centred' approach rarely impress the hard-core fans in the UK.

The message from Al Fahim was that he is 'one of them' and shares their ecstasy and pain.

'Leveraged' takeover by Al Fahim

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Regular readers will have noticed a distinct lack of updates recently. Sorry about this absence but we have been away from access to the internet and technology for the best part of two weeks (yes such a place does exist). We would very much have liked to have kept you updated with the astonishing events of the past week. However judging by my emails it looks like this saga has still got plenty of life in it.

We will provide an update on the financials of the takeover the early part of next week. However we are advised that Al Fahim is seeking to conduct a 'leveraged' takeover of the club. This means that a significant portion the club's future income will be mortgaged in order to provide the funds required to purchase the club.

Al Fahim is now the sole owner of Portsmouth and is keenly looking forward to the game against Manchester City. He has stated that, for him, this is the game he wants to win more than any other. The game sees the two UAE owned Premiership teams compete in a tie that will be the focus of the UAE sporting world. It will give Al Fahim the opportunity to host his compatriots and former employers and help re-establish his status which was hit by recent events at Hydra and Portsmouth.

For Al Fahim, it is very important that this game and and the hospitality arrangements all go well.

Deal to proceed without Al Fahim

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Portsmouth FC have announced that an alternative consortium is now in the bidding for the club. Although the official statement has left the door open for Al Fahim to join with CEO Peter Storrie, this arrangement seems increasingly unlikely.

Relationships between Al Fahim and Storrie have been strained lately with Al Fahim's procrastinations a particular cause of irritation. The club needs an injection of funds for player purchases and to takeover existing funds. Al Fahim has struggled to raise the required capital and would bring little of immediate value to the deal. Al Fahim's role in the Portsmouth saga looks like it is coming to an end.

With the Transfer window set to close on 31 August, it is unlikely that any consortium will be able to deliver new player purchases in time.

Next 48 hours crucial for Portsmouth

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:19:00 +0000

Back on 4th August Portsmouth FC announced that additional funds were required to finance the club and that, should the takeover not take place, additional player sales would be required. With only 10 days to go until the end of the transfer window, the club now needs to take some hard decisions.

The club need revenue to finance ongoing running costs until the next tranche of Sky payments in the new year. Al Fahim's plans were to include the provision of new funds as part of the takeover. However securing new funds has proved so difficult that the new funds injection now looks far from certain. The transfer window closes on 31 August and as we recently reported, the club will need to make a decision in the next 48 hours on whether they believe the takeover will go ahead. If the club is not absolutely certain that the takeover is going to provide the new funds before 31 August, then player sales must be made to preserve the club financial position. With the Premier League requiring a week to process the 'source of funds' submission, the club are aware that they need to make a decision now.

Recent reports in the Telegraph make interesting reading and support this site's long-term contention that Al Fahim does not have the required funds to complete the takeover. The prospect of Al Fahim borrowing against future TV revenue streams is clearly a desperate move for Al Fahim. The Sky TV money for a Championship club is around £2m per season (as oppose to the circa £40m that is earned in the Premiership. Any prospective lender would take this uncertainty of income into account. With Portsmouth one of the favourites to finish in the bottom six, it is unclear whether banks will indeed see the arrangement as sound investment.

AL Fahim arrives at Fratton Park

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:42:00 +0000

After a turbulent week, Al Fahim arrived at Portsmouth FC for the game against Fulham. Owing to traffic congestion, he arrived just befor kick-off to see his first ever live Premiership game. His arrival was very low-key - and fans were not treated to an appearance in the centre circle

Choosing to wear and eye-catching white jacket, Al Fahim was the focus of all attention in the Directors' box, sat next to Peter Storrie.

Despite the pre-season disruption, Portsmouth had the majority of the play. However it must have been evident to Al Fahim that additional investment is required to ensure the team create more chances and improve their cutting edge up-front.

Al Fahim planning for life after Portsmouth

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Al Fahim has given an 'interview' to one of the tame Arab business newspapers in an effort to improve his increasingly tarnished image.

Unlike the UK medial, newspapers in the Arab world are rarely critical and with the right contacts you are able to maintain editorial control over articles. Yesterday's piece in the Business 24-7 illustrates this point.

This issue is well illustrated by the paragraph regarding IIMSAM - no independent journalist would submit copy containing this turgid text. Al Fahim however is keen for the role of IIMSAM to be talked-up and for spurious connection to the UN to be maintained.

In the 'interview' Al Fahim is keen to start the 'rumour' that he is about to receive a £100m bonus from Hydra. We are aware of no such rumour circulating prior to this astonishing claim in this article.

Given that Al Fahim will have his image tarnished should Portsmouth, as expected, pull the plug on Al Fahim, he needs to ensure that he is still seen as a man financial might. However this £100m claim is clearly bogus.

This week, Hydra finally announced that it is scrapping all its developments, other than Hydra Village (plus two smaller tower developments). The company also made it clear that it needs additional cash to continue the projects and that this have to come from owners Royal Group. The entire Hydra venture is set to be loss-making for Royal Group and the prospect of a huge bonus to Al Fahim is inconceivable. Al Fahim was sacked as CEO and 'moved upstairs' to the Board in June.

The size of the '£100m bonus' is also fanciful. Of the 2,500 properties at Hydra Village, just 60 are considered as 60% complete - most of the rest are not even started. The sales receipts from all 2,500 properties is less than £200m. The notion that the astute Royal Group would pay a bonus of £100m bonus on a partially completed, loss-making project is simply beyond belief.

'All Change' for Al Fahim

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:52:00 +0000

With the the new football season commencing on Saturday, it is a good time to take stock of how much has changed since this Blog first began just 8 weeks ago. At the time we started there were a number of 'facts' about Al Fahim that were unchallenged in the media and at Portsmouth football club:

Al Fahim works for the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador
Al Fahim is successful property developer
Al Fahim is a TV star
Al Fahim is a Billionaire
Al Fahim will bring prosperity, security and success to the club

As the weeks have gone by, this Blog has unpicked the accepted mythology. This has not been easy and we have been criticised for swimming against the tide of accepted opinion. However, thanks partly to this Blog, there are few who would now accept the above picture of Al Fahim in its entirity.

We believe we have added to people's understanding of the true position and have even been able to influence some media debate. The misery of the Hydra customers is now well understood; we have seen supporters of the club debating the events at Hydra in a way that might not have been possible without this site. We have also been able to have some influence on other matters, for example; readers will have noticed that for the first time today, Bhoyrul did not refer to Al Fahim as 'Doctor' and IIMSAM is being probed for misleading claims of affiliation to the UN (no new press releases have been issued for a little while).

We have often been asked about why we started the Blog.

When the takeover at Portsmouth was first announced we saw some unsuspecting supporters declaring they 'were as happier than when the club won the FA Cup'. In part, that encouraged us to set up this Blog. We had insight into Al Fahim that the British football and sports media did not appear to have. We believed it would not end well for supporters of a fine old club and that the lessons of Hydra had been too easily dismissed.

We know readers have appreciated our updates on financial developments during the takeover. We like to think that our uniquely informed insights into this complicated matter have helped supporters of the club make sense of the seemingly bewildering events. In short, regular readers of this Blog have been better informed than those who have relied on the established media.

Perhaps the key long-lasting effect of this event full Summer has been to show how important and effective the lone voice of a Blog can be. Issues such as Al Fahim's role in the takeover have been the exclusive preserve of the news 'trinity': Local Newspapers; Nationals Newspapers and Fans Forums. However we have shown that a Blog with a consistent challenging voice can act as repository for oppositional information in a way the other news sources are not suited to. Just 8 weeks ago, there seemed no role for a loan voice in this area - however we would like to believe that this has shown that this landcsape can change.

We know that we have not always got it right (i.e. the pre-emptive pullout story) but readers have, at least, always known where they stood with the Al Fahim Blog.

If nothing else we hope we have lessened the blow of the past few weeks. How we take the Blog forward remains to be seen. The show is not quite over yet and, although it is not impossible that Al Fahim may pull the deal together, we genuinely don't believe that will happen. Even if the funds are somehow scraped together, the above picture of Al Fahim has been completely changed forever and we have played our part in that.

Uncomfortable Executives

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:15:00 +0000

As previously reported, the Hydra history seems to be repeating itself at Portsmouth. Al Fahim is keen to portray an image of a man who has every intention of making the deal happen. He gave a lengthy interview to this effect to tame insider Bhoyrol at arabianbusiness.com.

However this picture of a man who will walk out at Portsmouth FC to the acclaim of the crowd as the new owner of Portsmouth is causing some raised eyebrows at the club. It appears that Al Fahim had not discussed his intention to appear at Saturday's game with Peter Storrie and owner Sacha Gaydamak.

Al Fahim is determined to claim that the takeover is on track and it seems only Gaydamak can pull the plug on Al Fahim's procrastinations.

The relationship between the two men has grown frosty since Storrie's recently leaked email. As it stands, the Executive Box is set to be unusually uncomfortable.

It is looking increasingly likely that the prospect of Al Fahim coming to Fratton Park will be the tipping point of this long-running affair.

History repeating at Portsmouth?

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:31:00 +0000

Observers of Al Fahim may have noticed some similarities between events at Hydra and at Portsmouth FC.

At Hydra, Al Fahim quickly built a global reputation based on the apparent success of his property development company. He has a flair for PR and was able to use the media to project an image of success and personal opulence. In the UAE the media will often adopt the establishment position and will not seek to challenge the accepted position.

When the Hydra Village development began to stall, Al Fahim gave very public assurances that all was well. People who had purchased the property were given comfort by the statements. As time progressed, more assurances were given - these included target dates, percentages of completion, and further comforting statements.

The people who had invested in Hydra Village were largely concerned, but not unduly alarmed by events - after all Al Fahim was the CEO Of The Year and was the 'star' of a TV series devoted to Hydra's success. Many purchasers, who were financially and emotionally tied to the Al Fahim vision initially found it difficult to accept the true postion.

Ultimately we all know how this ended at Hydra. Purchasers trusted Al Fahim and relied on his assurances for far longer than they should. Al Fahim remained at CEO of Hydra refusing to acknowledge that there was any fundamental funding issue. He continued to confirm that the development was progressing and that investors should simply bear with him. Ultimately, owners Royalgroup had to remove him from the CEO position and installed a new man. Now, free from Al Fahim, Hydra has faced up to the true position and is beginning to resolve the problems.

When he burst onto the scheme at Portsmouth FC, despite events at Hydra, Al Fahim's image was strong and the media initially was almost entirely positive in respect of Al Fahim personally.

At Portsmouth, the takeover has continued to stall. Emotionally connected to the club, supporters understandably took time to see the position - their emotion and passionate desire for the dream vision to be reality made it understandably difficult to see the flaws. Throughout all this Al Fahim has assured fans that all is progressing on track. Each new statement,like at Hydra, pushes the perception of those emotionally involved away their belief in a negative outcome. However, with the tide of public perception changing, the reality that Al Fahim is not as originally projected is now increasingly being accepted.

Increasingly, it seems like at Hydra, only by ultimately removing Al Fahim from the picture will enable the position to be resolved.

Clearly we are now reaching the end game at Portsmouth. It is not absolutely impossible that Al Fahim will find the funds to complete the takeover (he is well connected after all). Few things are impossible and compromises and additional funding is not completely inconceivable. However, we would recommend that fans of the club view this scenario as an unexpected 'bonus', rather than with any great level of expectation.

Hydra and the Royals

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:55:00 +0000

In the past couple of days, some interesting information has been released regarding Hydra Properties. For anyone wanting a summary on what happened at Al Fahim's Hydra we would recommend you start with our story of 20 July.

In the two articles (See links below) Hydra, via briefings to the media, has for the first time acknowledged that additional funds are likely to be required to complete the Hydra Villages development. They have also let it be known that there is a distinct likelihood that it will be asking Royalgroup to dip into its coffers to finance the scheme completion (confirming our report of last week Cash injection needed at Hydra).

Hydra has announced that to raise funds that it will be attempting to sell the partly-commenced developments around the world. Al Fahim's strategy for Hydra was to use customer's deposits from the flagship Hydra Village development to expand into other projects. The global property slump has left Hydra holding a number of partly excavated holes in the ground with comparatively little re-sale value.

Almost all of Al Fahim's much heralded ventures will finally be scrapped to focus predominantly on the 2,500 property Hydra Village. However even with the sale of these construction sites, Hydra needs additional funding to finish this project. The company has little option but to tap owners Royalgroup for additional funds. Although the indications are that they will, it still remains to be seen if Royalgroup will stump up the additional financing. Royalgroup is owned by the UAE Royal Family - in turn, Royalgroup owns 100% of the Hydra shares.

Royalgroup's financial responsibility with Hydra is limited to the shares that it owns - it has no legal or financial requirement to assist Hydra. The Hydra brand itself is considered to be virtually worthless and there is little immediate financial incentive for the Royalgroup to pour more money into Hydra.

However it could be potentially very damaging for the image of the Royal family if they are not seen to assist in a situation where many feel they have some direct responsibility. There are also long-term implications for UAE's construction and business reputation to consider; for these reasons we do expect (and hope) that the Royalgroup will indeed come to Hydra's assistance.

The bail-out by the Royal family and the sale of Al Fahim's high-profile projects are highly embarrassing. Al Fahim, winner of the 2008 Middle East 'Visionary of the Year' simply did not see this happening.

Arabianbusiness.com

The National

Gaydamak forces the issue

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:28:00 +0000

The long-running saga of the takeover of Portsmouth FC by Al Fahim is moving towards a conclusion. Considerable media activity was generated by a story in the Sunday Mirror which explained the deal needed to be concluded quickly if it was going to happen at all. At first glance Sunday Mirror may look like a simple re-hash of this Blog's previous article:

Previous article

However there has clearly been a crucial development in this long-running saga and this should not pass without comment.

For Al Fahim, locked into a deal that is proving impossible to conclude, there is a real need to be able to save face - the importance of this requirement should not be underestimated.

Gaydamak has now offered a 'deadline' and we believe this will be grasped by Al Fahim as the means to extricate himself from the situation. Publically at least, the relationship can be terminated by Gaydamak on his terms. Al Fahim can insist that this was Gaydamak's decision and that the takoever had remained on track with only the details to be resolved.

Long-suffering Portsmouth fans can expect futher statements from Al Fahim and his aides which explain that "the takeover is proceeding and will soon be concluded". However, it seems that only action from Gaydamak will free Portsmouth from the 'Walter Mitty' world of Sulaiman Al Fahim.

Gaydamak's plans for Portsmouth FC

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:09:00 +0000

We clearly jumped the gun with our recent article stating that Al Fahim had pulled out of the takeover. Although our source has been remarkably good so far, it is clear that Al Fahim has not pulled out and is still trying to pull the deal together. With so much uncertainty and lack of clarity, it is a good time to clear up the entire position.

Yesterday's Times provides useful confirmation. It confirms that the original deal between Gaydamak and Al Fahim (agreed in May) was as follows:

Gaydamak transfers all the clubs debts (£60m)to Al Fahim. In return, the ownership of the club is transferred to Al Fahim for a token payment.

This arrangement would have allowed Gaydamak to walk away from the club and its debts and Al Fahim would become the owner. The Club debts stood at around £60m, with £36m due to Standard Bank at the end ofAugust/first week in September. The additional £24m were due to Gaydamak personally - Gaydamak receives around fifteen percent interest on much of this loan.

Gaydamak could not afford to keep subsidising the club which had been losing around £2m a month -even with a number of expensive players due to have their contract expire in June/July, Gaydamak needed to sell the club. Should the sale of the club not take place, the club were all too aware that the Standard Bank demand was unlikely to be renegotiated.

Back in May, when the takeover was announced, Al Fahim agreed in principal to takeover the club subject to Due Diligence.
At that time the debts of the club were documented in the audited accounts and were in the public domain.

As we all know, things have not worked out as Gaydamak and Al Fahim planned.

Al Fahim is certainly a man of independent wealth. How wealthy is a matter of conjecture, but all indications are that he has less than £60-£70m. Al Fahim had originally intended to buy the club with co-investors but he was not able to make this happen - the FAPL Fit and Proper Persons Test ensured that any co-investors would need to come forward. It appears that the newly strengthened FAPPT has restricted the funds available to Al Fahim.

With the takeover becoming protracted, Portsmouth had no choice but to implement 'Plan B' and sell players to ensure that it had sufficient funds to pay Standard Bank's £36m. Although these transfers generated high sale 'headline' figures, owing to the structure of the sales, the amount of up-front funds paid to the Portsmouth bank accounts was often for a lower amount. For Portsmouth, cash in the bank was the important factor.

The Season Ticket receipts and much of the Sky TV money received in August was used to keep the club running (wages were very high indeed until many contracts expired at the end of June and July). The Sky TV money is paid in two installments, in August and in January.

In addition, Portsmouth has wages to pay and, although these are significantly less than the peak of £70m per year, around £3m per month are still required to keep the club going.

It now appears that the club has the required funds to keep Standard Bank happy. However additional funds are required to pay the players wages until the next Sky TV money injection in the new year.

Gaydamak is still owed £24m by the club and, although much of it pays a handsome interest rate, Gaydamak wants Al Fahim to takeover the debt - Gaydamak wants his £24m back.

Owing to the player sales, Al Fahim now requires considerably fewer funds to take over the club from Gaydamak. Gaydamak needs only £24m and he will to be able walk away. However Al Fahim needs considerably more in his coffers than £24m as the team needs to be strengthened and future wage costs covered. To add to the complexity, the current proposed deal will only payback Gaydamak a portion of his £24m immediately - Gaydamak would not be able to walk away and would remain on the Board as a way of protecting his remaining loan.

Al Fahim still needs a co-investor or an institution willing to lend him the funds - this continues to be difficult and they are not currently in place. As a consequence, Al Fahim has not yet advised the FA Premier League of the source of the funds - this is because the source of the funds is not yet tied up. The details of the source of the funds and the overdue paperwork continues to be a sticking point and the FAPL will need at least a week to satisfy themselves that all is in order. When the paperwork had not been submitted by close of business on Tuesday, we mistakenly believed that Al Fahim's internal deadline had been passed and Al Fahim would not now be proceeding with the takeover - clearly we were wrong and Al Fahim is continuing his efforts to secure the finance.

Portsmouth FC are hopeful but unsure if the takeover will happen and need to plan for the worst-case scenario. Consequently it has announced that players will continue to be sold if the takeover does not take place. These additional funds will be required to pay players wages and run the club until the next Sky TV lifeline is received in the new year.

The crucial question is whether sufficient funds could be raised to ensure the club can continue to function and thereby ensure it does not go into administration. Our understanding is that by selling several of the key players, the club could escape administration. For Gaydamak, this will be his top priority - if the takeover does not commence as it is the only way to ensure the £24m loan is not lost.

Of course, further players sales are unlikely to be required if Al Fahim does take over the club. However this will depend on the amount of funding that he has secured.

To add to this complicated picture, the timing of the takeover also needs to be considered. The FAPL will need a minimum of a week to check the source of Al Fahim's funding and on top of that, it will take a few days to bring in any new players. If the funding paperwork has not been submitted to the FAPL by around 18 August, then Gaydamak will have push through with the sale of the remaining senior players.

Gaydamak genuinely wanted to transfer the ownership to someone who is able to move the club onwards. He had never intended to strip the club of assets in this way - sadly the ongoing delays have forced him into this position, with the prospect of more sales to come if takeover is not sealed soon.

The original deal is now less impressive for Gaydamak, as he is being asked to give the club away for nothing to Al Fahim, despite the fact that he will still have loans outstanding.

Al Fahim 'to pull out' of takeover

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:25:00 +0000

Following one of the most protracted takeovers in footballing history, it appears Al Fahim has now resigned himself to the fact that the Portsmouth deal will not happen.

Sources close to Al Fahim report that he has been working tirelessly to pull together sufficient funds, but it has simply not been possible to bring together the required cash. The Due Diligence process identified significantly higher Portsmouth debts than originally envisaged. In addition, the new FAPL Fit And Proper Persons requirement made it significantly more difficult to attract co-investors.

Al Fahim has been committed to the takeover and helped convince the club's creditors to defer a crucial part of the Standard Bank repayment - a debt that would have taken the club into administration two weeks ago.

As recently ago as last week, Al Fahim was still optimistic about the takeover. However his aides now advise that he has effectively decided to admit defeat.

**UPDATE**
A Press Release has been issued on 4 August which states that Al Fahim will be proceeding with the takeover. Our source has been remarkably reliable to-date (as regular readers will know) . Clearly we get things wrong but it was based on some key info - however things had obviously changed.

Cash injection needed at Hydra

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:11:00 +0000

Under Al Fahim, Hydra used customers' deposits from 'Hydra Villages' to expand the company and commence other developments. The onset of the global property downturn resulted in the new developments being put 'on hold'. The consequence for people who purchased property in the Hydra Villages development is well-documented - customers have paid deposits (usually around £50,000) and little has been built.

Hydra is faced by legal action from around 400 property purchasers and does not have the funds to complete the development. In an effort to generate additional cash it recently advised customers that they should provide the company with around £25,000 if their property requires a parking space. Hydra explained that the provision of a parking space was an 'extra' and would only be provided for an additional payment.

Al Fahim does not hold any shares in Hydra and all shares are held by Royalgroup, which belongs to the UAE Royal Family. If it decides to complete the development at Hydra Villages, Royalgroup will be required to dig into its coffers for the funds. The Hydra venture is set to be loss-making for Royalgroup and whether it decides to complete the development and subsidise Hydra remains to be seen. Al Fahim remains on the Board of Hydra.

Secrets of success revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Portsmouth FC chairman Al Fahim is the author of book "Brand Builder" which spells out, in typically swaggering manner, how he built up Hydra Properties. Although we would dispute his aides contention that it is a 'best-seller' it does offer some interesting insights into how he managed to establish the now-failing venture.

In quite brazen fashion, he explains the pitfalls of taking customers' deposits and then using the money for other ventures. Al Fahim must wish he had taken his own advice:

Brand Builder extract:

I sell all the units long before I have started building it. My investors begin with a 10% down-payment and, if I do my sums correctly, that gives me US$ 10 million.

I give that to the contractor who begins his work. After he finishes the first phase, my investors owe me another 10% - another US$ 10 million - which I happen to owe the contractor again, and effectively pass this money straight on to him.

In some ways, with this your return on equity is infinite because you don't even pay for the land. I call it IRR - infinite rate of return. This is the dream scenario, but it will not last forever because you will not always have a market with huge demand and short supply. These kind of markets are very hard to find.

The liability is with the customer in this scenario. But, as a developer, you have to be very careful and only use that money for that project. I am aware of some developers who have used the money to invest in second and third projects. That can bring you trouble. A friend of mine owns ten towers but, for three of them, he doesn't have the money to actually build them because he used it on other projects. This is rather like taking out a new credit card to pay for the one you have already used up but cannot afford the repayments on. It seems like a good idea, and is very easy to do but, ultimately, you will hit a brick wall. Or, in this case, no wall; you can't afford the bricks anymore. For pre-sale to succeed, the most important thing you need is a brand. And people have to trust in you. Simple as that. If they do not, you won't get a single pre-sale. Suffice to say, branding is something that I think we at Hydra have done exceptionally well on.

UN Probe Al Fahim's organisation

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:15:00 +0000

Following our article yesterday on Al Fahim's 'ambassador' role and the IIMSAM organisation, Matt Scott at the Guardian has today picked up the story:

Although Diego Maradona has somehow managed to resist the lure of Fratton Park in favour of remaining Argentina's coach, that does not stop Sulaiman al-Fahim, who is supposedly taking over Portsmouth, from being very close to another eminent Maradona.

Indeed, perhaps his link with the lesser-known Maradona is what led to the confusion at his favoured media outlet, arabianbusiness.com, which purports him to be a "UN ambassador", a claim that has been cheerfully trotted out in several media reports in this country.

Fahim is in fact a "goodwill ambassador" to IIMSAM, a campaign to solve the world's food crisis by feeding algae to the malnourished, and which six years ago was accorded observer status at the United Nations economic and social council.

IIMSAM's director-general is "His Excellency" Remigio Martín Maradona, who, according to its website, previously represented Vanuatu at the UN. But there have been suspicions at the UN that Maradona's IIMSAM has been seeking to take advantage of its status. One UN source said its legal department has been looking into how he and IIMSAM have used the UN name and logo to see if there had been any wrongdoing. If it finds there has, it will present the case to member states to determine what action to take.

IIMSAM's Manish Upraty confirmed it has been in dialogue with the UN's legal department. "But we have received no complaints from the UN; it goes back and forth and at the moment it's fine," he said. Still, with Fahim having such close links to one so esteemed it is easy to see how so many media reports could have mistaken the new Pompey chairman for a UN ambassador.

Guardian 31 July

'Ambassador' role confusion

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:10:00 +0000

Journalists continue to get confused over Al Fahim's 'Ambassador' role and he is often described as a 'UN Goodwill Ambassador'.

His PR spokesman and good friend Anil Bhoyrul even described Al Fahim as a 'UN Goodwill Ambassador' in his global Maradonna 'Exclusive' for Arabianbusiness.com.

However as with many Al Fahim stories, all is not as first appears.

Al Fahim has links with Diego Maradonna's cousin who runs an organisation called IIMSAM. IIMSAM promotes the use of a type of algae as foodstuff. IIMSAM is not part of the UN. IIMSAM believes that algae can be a useful foodstuff an can help areas where there is malnutrition. In the 70's the UN said it believed algae could be a wonder food; however IIMSAM is certainly not part of the UN. Questions have also been raised of the the rather meagre achievements of the IIMSAM organisation.

Al Fahim was given the title of 'Goodwill Ambassador' for IIMSAM. This title often confuses people who are led to believe that he is actually linked to the UN (which of course he isn't). It is also unfortunate that IIMSAM use such deliberately misleading titles for its affiliates.

Bhoyrul also continues to peddle the myth that Al Fahim is a 'Doctor'. One can only guess at why one of Al Fahim's 'personal friends' should choose to misrepresent Al Fahim's role and position in this way.

Bhoyrul's misrepresentation

Al Fahim's 'delayed' development

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Channel 4 journalist John Sparks has filed a news report on the property development disasters within UAE. His report focusses on the misrepresentation and alledged deception carried out by a number of large companies on Dubai. The article is not about Hydra but the issues highlighted also provide an excellent summary of many of the issues and approach adopted by Al Fahim's Hydra company based in Abu Dhabi.

At Hydra, Al Fahim misrepresented his capabilities and claimed to property purchasers that he had a 'Doctorate in Real Estate Investment'. This, of course, was misleading and entirely ficticious.

Channel 4 News

Takeover Completion 'by end of week'

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Al Fahim anticipates that the takeover of Portmsouth FC will be fully completed 'by the end of the week'. Last week Al Fahim committed himself to the takeover. With the Premier League expected to complete their 'Fit and Proper Persons Test' shortly, Al Fahim is all set to complete the takeover once the FAPL have satisfied themselves on the source of the funds.

In the face of a challenge from people who had purchased property in the Hydra Village project, the FA Premier League has been fully investigating whether Al Fahim meets the The 'Fit and Proper Persons Test' criteria. With the development classified as 'delayed and ongoing', Al Fahim is set to pass the tests.

'Meet the Fans Sessions' arranged

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:29:00 +0000

Al Fahim has finalised the details of the first 'Fans Session' whereby the new owner will meet supporters. Al Fahim is keen to build a relationship with fans and the first meeting is arranged for Friday 14 August - the day before the season opener against Fulham.

The next session is due to take place on Friday 28 August and looks like being an interesting meeting. Portsmouth will then have three games under their belt and the Transfer Window will close just 3 days later.

The game on Sunday 30th August will be a high-profile game for Al Fahim as it will give the Arab world a chance to compare the fortunes of the two UAE-owned clubs.

Details of the attendee process for the Fans Sessions are yet to be finalised by the club.

A story too far for Al Fahim

noreply@blogger.com (Fair comment) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:14:00 +0000

This week's 'Maradonna and Eto are coming to Portsmouth' story has seemingly backfired on Al Fahim's PR spin doctor Anil Bhoyrul.

Up until this week, Al Fahim had made good use of his close 'business' relationship with Arabianbusiness.com writer Anil Bhoyrul. Al Fahim feeds the stories to Bhoyrul and Bhoyrul is able to label the stories as 'Exclusives'. Consequently the seemingly independent journalist has been able to heighten his profile (and maximise his income).

However it looks like Al Fahim has pushed the relationship too far by asking that Bhoyrul publish the Maradonna exclusive. This story was widely regarded as 'implausible at best' by established journalists. Bhoyrul must have regrets about publishing this latest story.