Benjani still being paid by Pompey — reports

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FORMER Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari is one of 25 players still being paid by former English Premier League club Portsmouth, according to Daily Mail.

FORMER Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari is one of 25 players still being paid by former English Premier League club Portsmouth, according to Daily Mail.

Sports Editor/Daily Mail

Benjani now plays for Bidvest Wits in the Absa Premier League in South Africa. According to the paper, the former Manchester City forward is owed £214 572,73 and will receive 40-monthly payments of £5 364,32 until the debt is cleared by the League Two club.

The club, under new owners Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust, owes in total £6,72 million and as revealed by the Portsmouth News, documents lodged with Companies House show that all of the former players must receive the full amounts stated in their compromise agreements.

The Pompey Supporters’ Trust saved the south coast side from the brink of extinction back in April, but had to agree to take on the financial burdens left by a series of former owners.

These figures range from a £3 000 payment made to Kelvin Etuhu in late August, to more than £1,6 million owed to defender Tal Ben Haim over the next three years. Other former stars still owed salary and bonus payments include former England goalkeeper David James, fans favourite, former Nigerian international and Olympic gold winner Nwankwo Kanu.

Former South African skipper Aaron Mokoena and Ivory Coast international Aruna Dindane are also owed.

Pompey have experienced administration twice in recent years, firstly in 2010 and then again in 2012.

Now in League Two, the bottom tier of the Football League, Portsmouth must use their Premier League parachute payments to eradicate years of financial mismanagement.

The £6,72 million figure does not include money owed to local businesses, who will only end up receiving a small percentage of what they are owed under the terms of Pompey’s two administrations.

The Professional Footballers’ Association played a major part in reducing the money owed to players, with many former stars choosing to either reduce their figure or cancel it completely.

A source told the Portsmouth News: “Without that deal Pompey could not have gone ahead and bought the club, or had the money to buy the stadium and repay the council’s loan.”

The football creditors’ rule, which looks after the interests of the players, but not others owed money by clubs in administration, has been a source of controversy in recent years.

Lisa Billard said: “Our view remains that the Football Creditor Rule is unfair to all other unsecured creditors who are forced to make do with much smaller returns — if anything — on monies owed to them by football clubs which enter administration.” Steve Bone worked on the club’s matchday programmes.

He said: “As a fan and a creditor I think what angers me most is not how much we were over-spending before we went into administration, but how much we were over-spending during and after that first administration.

“We were making the same mistakes again. Pompey couldn’t even pay their small bills and they were off running up larger ones.”