When Portsmouth set up their Company Voluntary Arrangement on June 25th, they in theory had a 28 day deadline to complete the deal and their plan to exit administration. That date was allowed to pass unnoticed, but eventually administrator Trevor Birch set a deadline of August 10th or the club was to be pushed into administration. Just before that date, Balram Chainrai's Portpin bid was withdrawn from the date, leaving Portsmouth Supporters Trust as the only interested party looking to take over the club.
Birch allowed the PST an additional week to make their bid final, and to put it into a form that would satisfy the company's exit from administration. The Trust managed to meet this deadline, although there was a twist to proceedings, as Portpin re-entered the frame yet again, submitting their own bid to buy the club - which they pretty much admitted was the same was the one that they'd withdrawn just before the August 10th deadline.
Now Birch has put out yet another deadline for both parties to meet, with Friday 14th September the date to stick in their calendars. The administrator admits that neither bid is in a fit state to satisfy the terms needed to exit administration. These must include adherence to the CVA, as well as satisfying the Football League's rules on insolvency that include the need to meet the debts of all Football Creditors. Birch explains:
"We have held detailed discussions with both Portpin and the Pompey Supporters’ Trust over the past week. As neither party is currently in a position to complete a deal we have been unable to make an informed decision as to which offer is in the best interests of creditors. We have therefore decided to give both parties two weeks to finalise terms to acquire Portsmouth Football Club. We will now work with Portpin and the Trust as they finalise their plans and seek to satisfy the Football League and the Professional Footballers’ Association of their respective abilities to sustain the club in the future."
Birch also claims that he will be aiming to dispute the 10 point penalty that will be imposed upon the club if they do finally exit administration:
"We will also use this opportunity to request a review of the points deduction that is being held in abeyance on the club by the Football League."
The Football League's decision to deduct ten points from Pompey was based upon their failure to satisfy their previous CVA agreement that was set up back in 2009 during their last administration. Having failed to pay any of the debts surrounding that company collapse, the League's logic is to penalise the club for junking that agreement. Thus it's hard to see why the League would listen to any appeal, given that the deduction relates to the contents of the new CVA, rather than what Portpin and the PST are proposing.
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1 September 2012 : 
