Russian businessmen officially become owners of Portsmouth

Portsmouth FC have officially announced the change of the owner.

According to the statement published at the official website of the club, Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) headed by London-based Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, his business partner Roman Dubov, and British executive Chris Akers, former CEO of Leeds United, have bought the club for an undisclosed amount from Hong Kong businessman Balu Chainrai, his brother Deepak and Levi Kushnir.

Commenting on the deal Antonov said: «We have conducted extensive due diligence and held detailed negotiations with a number of clubs in the English Premier League, Championship, League One and Scottish Premier League over the past twelve months. We ultimately selected Portsmouth Football Club because of its history, loyal fan base and its potential to return to the Premier League.»

CSI controls a growing portfolio of sports teams, franchises and rights, including: the Russian Ferrari race team, the Spyker Squadron motorsports team and North One Sport, the global promoters of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Isle of Man TT race series, the Velux 5 Oceans Race and Clipper Round the World sailing events.

See also our feature story on other Russian businessmen who became or could become owners of English clubs.