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LONDON - Portsmouth's painful slide out of the Premier League accelerated past the point of no return on Wednesday when the club had nine points deducted as punishment for going into administration.
The long-expected move was confirmed after legal uncertainty over the club's protection from creditors was removed following a decision by the UK tax authorities to drop a petition for the 112-year-old club to be liquidated.
The deduction reduces Portsmouth's points total to ten, 14 behind second-from-bottom Hull and 17 adrift of West Ham and Wolves, the teams just above the bottom three, with only a maximum of 27 to play for in their remaining nine matches.
The Premier League said in a statement: "Following the High Court's decision that Portsmouth FC's administration is valid the Premier League board convened today to apply the League's rules and policies in relation to a member club suffering an event of insolvency.
"As a result Portsmouth FC has been deducted nine points with immediate effect."
Portsmouth, who are battling for survival under the weight of 65 million pounds of debt, are not expected to appeal the EPL's decision, a move that would have little prospect of success in any case.
The club's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, last week announced 85 redundancies at the club in an effort to cut costs.
Andronikou is hoping to find new investors with talks currently underway with a group headed by property developer Rob Lloyd, who has been told to prove that his consortium has sufficient funds available.
"There will have to be more clarity about his backers before the middle of next week," the administrator said. "I have asked to know who the owners would be. It is part of a bundle of information I need to see. We need the whole picture."
Portsmouth's financial difficulties have been reflected in the club's failure to pay staff and players on time on four occasions since August, and by the boardroom turmoil which has meant the club has had four owners this season.
The club is currently owned by Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai, who took control in early February. Chainrai took control in an attempt to recover some part of a 17-million-pound loan his company made to the former owner, Ali Al Faraj.
Chainrai's loan had been secured against the 90 percent stake that Al-Faraj acquired in October from previous owner Sulaiman al-Fahim, who had himself only been the owner for two months. Al-Fahim took over in August from Alexandre
Gaydamak, who claims he is still owed 28 million pounds.
Portsmouth's financial woes are the result of the medium-sized south coast club spending unsustainably on players. The approach paid off when Portsmouth lifted the FA Cup in 2008 -- the club's first significant silverware in 58 years.
But the success proved short-lived and the Cup-winning squad assembled by then-manager Harry Redknapp has since been dismantled.
It has not all been gloom on the pitch however. Under former Chelsea and Israel manager Avram Grant, Pompey have reached the semi-finals of this season's FA Cup, in which they will face either Fulham or Tottenham.
- AFP/ir
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