Europe's richest man Rinat Akhmetov has turned down the opportunity to buy Portsmouth.

The Observer says an intermediary acting for the club last month approached representatives of System Capital Management, the holding company that controls Akhmetov's other businesses, with a prospectus, but was rebuffed immediately.

Akhmetov, who made his fortune in mining and metallurgical concerns, has been the president of the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk since 1996. Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak, who has also been in talks with the South African consortium that has been linked to Fulham and Charlton, is believed to be looking for £40m for the club, which is understood to have debts totalling £50m.