Portsmouth Football Club (PFC) has been forced to return to the High Court after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) challenged the decision to put the club into voluntary administration.

According to The Times, HMRC told the court that the Premier League club must pay £7m by the end of March and a further £7m by the end of May to avoid the prospect of being wound up. The case has been reportedly adjourned for two weeks, with HMRC also raised three concerns about the club's decision to go into administration, including whether the appointment of administrators was valid.

Andronikou will meet the Premier League today (2 March) to discuss the nine-point penalty for entering administration before meeting with fellow Premier League chairs on Thursday to explore the possibility of allowing the club to sell players before taking them back on loan to raise funds. A PFC spokesperson said: "We don't want to pre-empty anything or pre-judge what will happen, but hopefully the Premier League and our fellow Premier League clubs will be as sympathetic as possible to our situation."

Andronikou, along with fellow joint administrators Peter Kubik and Michael Kiely, have already unveiled plans to safeguard the future of PFC. Efforts to reduce "unnecessary costs" could lead to job losses at the club, while talks are ongoing to secure external investment. Meanwhile, fellow Premier League outfit West Ham United Football Club (WHUFC) has published its accounts for the 2008-09 season, following the acquisition of the club by David Gold and David Sullivan.

According to a review by finance director Nick Igoe, the club made a loss of £16.2m during the 2008-09 season and has been hampered by "ill-judged" investment decisions relating to "underperforming" playing staff. Cardiff City Football Club of the Coca-Cola Championship, which is subject to an adjourned winding up order brought by HMRC, has moved to dismiss fears that it had failed to pay the Football Association of Wales (FAW) for hosting the Wales v Scotland international fixture on 14 November.

According to the BBC, a club statement said: "A meeting has been arranged for Tuesday (2 March) to work out the exact amount owing." Elsewhere, fresh doubts have been cast over the future of Farsley Celtic Football Club (FCFC) of the Blue Square North after a consortium's offer to buy the club was rejected by administrators from Mazars.

Mazars has now informed the Football Conference that the club, which was the subject of an 11th hour rescue package last summer, will be unable to fulfil its scheduled fixture at AFC Telford United this evening. Robert Adamson, partner at Mazars' Leeds office and FCFC administrator, said: "The core issue remains that the consortium's funds are not sufficient to complete the deal they want to complete and satisfy the creditors."

The Football Conference has now charged the club for being in breach of competition rules, with FCFC being given seven days in which to appeal. Image: Ben Hardinge/Flickr