West Ham Face Nine Point Deduction

According to today's Guardian West Ham have until the 6th March to find new owners, if not Hansa, the West Ham holding company, will probably be declared insolvent by the Icelandic courts.

If that happens The Guardian says that West Ham would then be hit with an immediate nine points deduction by the Premier League. My understanding of the situation, previous to this Guardian story, was that Hansa going into administration was not the same as West Ham going into administration and that West Ham would not be seen as being insolvent just because the holding company was (but in truth I have no real idea).

Sources have told The Guardian that there are as many as nine potential buyers for the club but none are willing to meet Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson's £250 million evaluation of the club. The Guardian says there has been little progress towards a takeover in recent weeks. Their source said,

"Mr Gudmundsson will not accept an unsatisfactory amount, he is prepared to wait for the right offer to come along."

He also said Hansa had options for paying back creditors other than selling West Ham.