Propsective Portsmouth owner Sulaiman Al-Fahim booted out of ailing property company
Entrepreneur relieved of duties at company he started
Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim - the man who was once thought to own Manchester City even though he apparently has nothing to do with them – is facing a spot of bother in the United Arab Emirates.
The man who is expected to take the reins at Portsmouth in a £60m deal has been relieved of his position of CEO of Hydra Properties, one of Abu Dhabi’s leading property developers.
Al-Fahim – pictured above with an old lady and her grandson – has been “promoted” (read: “demoted”) to as directorial position at Hydra, as one of the firm’s biggest projects is on the brink of collapse. The Hydra Village, a project consisting of 2,500 luxury villas, was due to be completed this year, but it is currently two years behind schedule. Understandably, some investors are concerned, including this one who spoke to The Sun:
“The Hydra Village project has been a disaster and I genuinely fear I will never see my money again.
“I would treat anything Al-Fahim says with a great deal of suspicion.”
It doesn’t appear that this messy situation or his links to Manchester City will jeopardise his eligibility for club ownership, but it doesn’t reflect particularly well on Sir David Richards, the Premier League chairman who has given Al-Fahim his endorsement.
Spoiler bonus: Sulaiman Al-Fahim is the UAE’s answer to Alan Sugar, it seems…
6 responses so far
pfcjames // June 18, 2009 at 9:27 am
yawn – he resigned
please try harder next time
gb // June 18, 2009 at 9:31 am
Cannot even get the caption for the picture right – nice ‘old lady’.
You should be working for the Sun!!
Albert Wittine // June 18, 2009 at 9:45 am
He should play Monopoly first: Go to jail!
Ryan Bailey // June 18, 2009 at 9:54 am
pfc james – I have seen no news sources that say he has ‘resigned’. Arabic newspapers and The Guardian say he has been ‘replaced’, while the (admittedly less credible) Sun says he has been ‘stripped of control’ and ‘given the boot’. Either way, he appears to have departed in controversial circumstances.
gb – perhaps this website isn’t for you.
Falastur // June 18, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Seems you don’t have a clue what’s going on here, so I’ll fill you in: Al-Fahim was the frontman (not owner) for the Man City takeover. He got too mouthy, so he was removed from his duties there. Now he’s fronting a bid to take over Pompey with his own company, Al-Fahim Asia Associates. He was CEO of Hydra Properties, a company he DID NOT create, but was appointed to the managerial role for. Hydra is owned by Man City’s owner/his brother. FIFA/FA rules say you can’t have two linked people owning two clubs in the same league, so he was forced to resign – he wasn’t sacked. He was moved to another role in a company not owned by the Al-Nahyan Sheikhs so that he didn’t violate this rule. He’s been invited back to the board in Hydra (presumably in a non-executive role) as a measure of goodwill, so clearly he wasn’t sacked.
Does that make more sense to you now?
Ryan Bailey // June 18, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Thanks Falastur. Although the article doesn’t say that he was sacked, your comments do help clear things up.
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