Gold: Portsmouth cannot fold

Posted Sunday, February 14, 2010 by PA

West Ham's co-owner David Gold has claimed the Premier League "must take responsibility" and ensure Portsmouth do not go out of business.

Portsmouth were on Wednesday granted extra time to fight a winding-up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Gold said in the Mail on Sunday: "Anything that impacts on the integrity of the Premier League has to be addressed and if a club go bust, all the points are wiped out, giving an advantage to some clubs and a disadvantage to others.

He added: "That can't be right. For that reason, you have an obligation to save a football club.

"We have allowed Portsmouth to get into this mess. The brand is 20 Premier League football clubs. We must take responsibility."

The Barclays Premier League's bottom club were given seven days to produce a statement of affairs to HMRC to detail their exact financial position.

HMRC claim Pompey owe them more than £11million in total. A figure of £7.4million of VAT is included in the winding-up petition, which Portsmouth are disputing.

Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak claims to be owed £28million and ex-Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell is suing for £1.7million.

If Portsmouth were closed down, the Premier League would be reduced to 19 teams and their results would be wiped out, giving the table a new look.