Portsmouth will not play in next season's Europa League after
English football authorities said Thursday that they will not
support the relegated Premier League club's belated application for
a UEFA license.
Portsmouth qualified to play in Europe by reaching this
month's FA Cup final because opponent Chelsea has already secured a
Champions League berth.
But Portsmouth has not applied for the necessary license and
may not have secured one anyway because its debt of more than 100
million pounds ($154 million) is likely to have breached UEFA's
financial regulations.
"The FA and Premier League have confirmed to the
administrators of Portsmouth Football Club that they shall not
consider any late application for granting of a UEFA Club License
for the 2010-11 season," the FA and Premier League said in a joint
statement.
The south-coast club did not make an initial application and
would have had to prove to UEFA by May 31 that it was a solvent
business.
England's extra Europa League spot will instead go to the
seventh-placed Premier League team - currently Liverpool.
The firm running Portsmouth and trying to keep it in business
announced the size of its debt Wednesday, with the total including
1 million pounds ($1.54 million) owed to Premier League rival
Tottenham over the aborted January transfer of Asmir Begovic.
But Tottenham said Thursday that the administrators were
wrong to say the amount was a sell-on fee, claiming instead that it
was a deposit it had paid to secure the goalkeeper's signing.
British media widely reported that Portsmouth had agreed to
sell Begovic to Tottenham and would be liable to make the payment
if it subsequently sold him to another club.
But Tottenham contends that it agreed to a combined transfer
fee for Begovic and defender Younes Kaboul, paying Pompey 1 million
pounds as a deposit on the goalkeeper on the understanding that it
would be repaid if he moved elsewhere.
Kaboul joined Spurs but Begovic instead moved to Stoke for
3.25 million pounds ($5 million) on Feb 1.
"Portsmouth pressed for an immediate payment in order to
alleviate their cash-flow situation," Tottenham said in a
statement. "We were assured that the transfer of Begovic would be
completed before the end of the transfer window.
"Our intention had been to assist a fellow club in financial
difficulties."
Stoke chairman Peter Coates said that Portsmouth had
attempted to raise the transfer fee to 4 million pounds ($6.15
million) after previously agreeing to a lower amount.
"We said that's not our problem," Coates told Sky Sports
News.
