West Ham may enter bankruptcy

West Ham was taken over yesterday by a consortium of creditors of its previous owners, Icelandic tycoon Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's investment company Hansa, but may be forced into bankruptcy before the week is out.

The Premier League club had enjoyed a six-month moratorium on paying back its debts granted to its previous owners, but this is due to end today and would not have applied to CB Holdings, the new parent company of the club.

Investment bank Straumur, who now own 70 per cent of West Ham through CB, must either obtain another stay of execution on the club's debts or enter West Ham into bankruptcy itself, possibly risking Premier League sanctions.WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Digger, the Guardian: "If Straumur fails to reach agreement with creditors or to persuade the courts to extend the moratorium, it will present a severe test for the Premier League's rules governing fit and proper persons. Under those regulations directors and significant shareholders cannot have been made bankrupt. They are currently designed for individuals but, in the event that a club's controlling shareholder is a bankrupt company, the league's board would examine it."

Gary Jacob, the Times: "It is an embarrassing fall from grace for Gudmundsson, who stepped down as chairman yesterday and who has lost about £500m because of the effects of the credit crunch. He had hoped that his takeover would lift West Ham to Champions League contention, but the club paid a heavy price for overspending on transfers and wages. Outgoings have been gradually cut over the past 18 months, but the club face a more stringent demand to be self-sufficient because of the nature of the new owner."

Matt Barlow & Simon Cass, Daily Mail: "Manager Gianfranco Zola has been told there are no funds to pay the £4m fee which would make Radoslav Kovac's loan deal from Spartak Moscow permanent. Instead Zola must generate his own transfer money, which is likely to mean cashing in on Matthew Upson." ·