Chainrai sees salvation in India
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is maybe an unlikely saviour for Balram Chainrai's cash-strapped soccer club Portsmouth, but the enormous revenue the cricket league has generated has led its backers to look further afield at other sports and the English south coast side could well benefit from it.
Chainrai, the team's Hong Kong-based owner, spent last week in India speaking to consortiums interested in buying the English Premier League club. From these meetings Chainrai identified suitable investors and he will be giving their names to the club's administrators tomorrow.
The final sale of the club will be up to the administrators, who were called in after insolvent Portsmouth became the first English Premier League team to be forced to seek bankruptcy protection from its creditors in February, which enabled it to restructure financially.
A victory today over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley will see the side miraculously reach the FA Cup final, yet a win will mean not only another big pay day, but also another chance to put the club in the shop window.
'It looks very promising that Indian investors will get involved,' Chainrai said. 'The IPL is taking off in India and it's fired up people's imagination. Now backers are looking to spread out into other sports. They want to get into British football because it would be very lucrative as far as branding goes.
'Despite the problems we've had at Portsmouth, our FA Cup run has seen the status and the value of the club go up, and some people have taken notice. Another win today will see the club's value go even higher.'
Chainrai's company, Portpin, ended up taking over the 90 per cent shareholding in Portsmouth held by previous owner Ali al-Faraj, of Saudi Arabia, in February after the club had missed deadlines to repay money that Chainrai was due and the loan ballooned to GBP17 million (HK$200 million).
He would not say whether the new investors were also involved in the IPL, but that the team's FA Cup run had alerted a few Indian backers to the club's potential in spite of their financial woes. It may be no coincidence either that the Indian interest in Portsmouth comes at such an opportune time.
NRI business tycoon Raj Kundra and his Bollywood actress wife Shilpa Shetty - who is one of the owners of IPL side Rajasthan Royals - are reportedly keen to kick-start an 'Indian Football League', parallel to the IPL, to take the sport in the country to even greater heights. With the introduction of an IPL-style league, they are hoping money will flow in.
'The IPL has become massive and celebrities love being involved,' Chainrai said.
'There are rumours that they want to do the same with the Indian Football League and that it will get a huge facelift. It's all helped to generate an interest in being financially involved in a well known British football club like Portsmouth.'
Financial benefits aside, Pompey's FA Cup semi-final encounter with Spurs gives the beleaguered club a chance to actually win some silverware. It's an outlandish thought considering the season they've had, but still a possibility.
Doomed to relegation after the Premier League handed the club a nine-point deduction for going into administration and unable to field a full squad in their past two Premier League games after being decimated by injuries to a variety of players, Chainrai still believes they can pull off a shock result.
'I really hope we can do it. It's always been my dream to be involved in an FA Cup final,' he said. 'Tottenham lost 3-1 to Sunderland last weekend and no one predicted that result. Why can't we do the same?
'It won't be easy, but we are going out there with absolutely nothing to lose. It's a real David v Goliath clash. Whatever happens it's going to be a special day for the fans and everyone involved with the club after all that they've been through this season.'
Portsmouth reached the last four after beating the Premier League's other Hong Kong-owned club, Carson Yeung Ka-sing's Birmingham City.
Frederic Piquionne scored twice as troubled Pompey beat the Midlands team 2-0 to win the first 'Hong Kong derby' a month ago.
