Portsmouth insist chairman Sulaiman al-Fahim was kept in the loop over Paul Hart's dismissal earlier this week.

The Times says Portsmouth replied to a complaint by Al-Fahim, the non-executive chairman, that he learnt about Hart's dismissal only when he read the news on the internet. The club claim that al-Fahim had been copied into the announcement of Hart's sacking before it was put up on the official website, although he had not been part of the decision-making process.

"As chairman of the club, I have an interest in the club and they should have run this by me," al-Fahim said. "I'm really disappointed with the decision."