MX23RW : Friday, July 5 09:48:22| >> :120:43967:43967:

Former Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al Fahim sentenced to five years in prison

Former Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is handed a five-year prison sentence in the United Arab Emirates for stealing £5m from his wife to fund the purchase.

Former Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al Fahim has been sentenced to five years in a United Arab Emirates jail for stealing £5m from his wife to fund the purchase.

Al Fahim, who also fronted the Abu Dhabi United Group's deal to buy Manchester City in 2008, was found guilty of forgery, using forged documents and aiding and abetting, according to BBC Sport.

The report claims that Al Fahim and an accomplice were found to have stolen the money used to buy Pompey from Sacha Gaydamak, the club eventually being sold to Ali Al Faraj.

Police discovered that the sum had been transferred to a British law firm, at the request of Al Fahim, and later used for his takeover of Portsmouth.

Al Fahim's wife denied giving him authorisation to manage the account, and an account manager was also sentenced to five years in prison.

At the time of Al Fahim's ownership, Portsmouth were in the Premier League but were also struggling financially and, four years later, they had gone into administration twice, suffered three relegations and had seven different owners.

In 2013, Portsmouth were taken over by the Pompey Supporters Trust (PST), who sold the club to former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner in August 2017.

ID:318796: cacheID:318796:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2323:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
A general view of Fratton Park prior to the Sky Bet League Two match between Portsmouth and Northampton Town at Fratton Park on December 29, 2013
Read Next:
Eisner compares Pompey to "abused child"
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!