Portsmouth: An Unavoidable Calamity

A European Union Arrest Warrant names the chairman of Portsmouth Football Club, Vladimir Antonov, as a suspect in a case of alleged fraud, forgery, misappropriation of property and money laundering. He is wanted for interview regarding a shortfall of between £300m and £800m at his Snoras Bank in Lithuania. The bank, along with its Latvian subsidiary, was placed into administration following what was described as an ‘unexpected outflow of funds’. Antonov and his business partner, Raimundas Baranauskas, are reported to have surrendered their passports in London, with Antonov said to be under arrest.

For Portsmouth supporters, the details are grimly familiar. The gallows humour on fan messageboards has turned to a game of ‘spot the last honest owner we had’. After the serial absenteeism of Ali Al Faraj and the chaos that led to administration, the club was supposed to be entering an era of stability. Instead, its credibility is being dragged through the mud once more by an owner whose financial history is, to put it mildly, fraught with complications.

A History of Difficulties

Antonov’s past is littered with red flags that should have given the Football League pause. His banking empire, Convers Group, was founded on the purchase of a failed Russian bank, Akademkhimbank, in 1999. His partner, Baranauskas, has suggested that recent troubles are politically motivated, claiming actions are designed “first and foremost to destroy Antonov and his business”. But questions have followed Antonov for years. In 2007, the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) blocked his attempt to establish a UK branch of Snoras, stating it felt the bank would be unable to cooperate with the FSA in “an open and constructive manner” after it provided “misleading and incomplete” answers to the regulator.

His business interests have been thwarted elsewhere. An attempt to take over the car manufacturer Saab was blocked due to the influence of General Motors and FBI reports, with the European Investment Bank making its loan conditional on Antonov having no involvement. This was the same man who survived an assassination attempt in 2008, an event which allegedly prompted him to leave Russia. Antonov also owns banks in Panama and the Commonwealth of Dominica. Despite the persistent questions, the Football League saw fit to approve his takeover of Portsmouth in June this year.

The Real Deal?

Convers Sport Initiative (CSI), the parent company that owns 100% of the club, was hailed as “the real deal” by Portsmouth’s CEO, Peter Lampitt. Antonov holds 75% of CSI’s shares. The company has insisted that Snoras Bank has never provided funding for the club, which is instead financed through the personal wealth of its owners. If 75% of that personal wealth is now unavailable, the future looks precarious. Tellingly, Vladimir Antonov’s photograph and biography have been scrubbed from the CSI website, though he remains listed as chairman of Portsmouth FC.

The club itself has offered no statement. Mr Lampitt, formerly the head of integrity at the Football Association, has not been available for comment.

The silence is deafening.

Another Collection of Demons

This is not a question of guilt or innocence. That is for the Lithuanian authorities to determine. The question is how a man with so many severe reservations held against him by the FSA, the FBI and the European Investment Bank could ever be considered a suitable custodian for a community institution like Portsmouth Football Club. It took the Premier League months to act when the club was collapsing under Al Faraj; the Football League must not make the same mistake. They are said to be ‘monitoring the situation’, which is of little comfort to supporters who have seen this all before.

The Portsmouth Supporters Trust is preparing to ask the awkward questions that the football authorities seem determined to avoid. At the very least, Antonov must be suspended from all involvement with the club until his affairs are settled. The game’s governing bodies continue to hide from the reality that English football is on a ride to the devil, and Portsmouth supporters are once again left wondering what the fate of their battered club might be.