Jailed Antonov and and the infamous owners in turbulent Portsmouth times
VLADIMIR ANTONOV has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to bank fraud.
He joins another former Pompey owner, Sulaiman Al Fahim, in being imprisoned during the last 13 months.
Here’s a look at Blues owners during a tumultuous period at Fratton Park from August 2009-February 2012. SACHA GAYDAMAK Upon his arrival, Gaydamak insisted the investment did not involve his father, Arkadi.
When the Gaydamaks were hit by a world-wide recession, the club was sold in August 2009.
In November 2015, Arkadi started a three-year prison term in France for tax evasion and money laundering. SULAIMAN AL FAHIM In February 2018, Al Fahim was sentenced to five years in a United Arab Emirates jail for stealing £5m from his wife to fund the purchase of Pompey.
Prosecutors said Al Fahim's wife discovered the money was missing after returns she had anticipated from a high-interest bank account opened in 2009 did not emerge. ALI AL FARAJ Purportedly a Saudi Arabian billionaire, Al Faraj passed the Premier League’s Fit & Proper Person’s test despite never visiting the UK and nobody meeting him.
Nicknamed Al Mirage by Pompey fans, many doubted his existence, although the likelihood remains he was a front for others. BALRAM CHAINRAI The Hong Kong money lender twice put the club into administration. He also opposed the decision of administrators PKF to sell the club to the Pompey Supporters’ Trust and refused to relinquish his ownership of Fratton Park. In April 2013, the case was heard in the High Court, with Pompey under threat of liquidation should the Trust’s bid prove unsuccessful. An outof-court settlement was reached with Chainrai – and the fans took ownership.
VLADIMIR ANTONOV (Chairman of Convers Sports Initiatives) Jailed for two-and-a-half years in Russia after pleading guilty to bank fraud.
He was involved in a 150 million rouble (£1.75m) loan from Sovetsky bank to a front company, knowing that it would not be repaid.
In May 2015, he left the UK after charged by Lithuanian authorities with stripping £396m from Snoras bank.