The debt-ravaged English football club Portsmouth have confirmed they've asked if they can be allowed to sell players outside the transfer window.
The request to the Premier League has been passed to both the English FA and soccer's world governing body FIFA who will have the final say on whether to waive the rules in a move that could help Portsmouth survive.
FIFA will need to make a decision quickly if the proposed sales are to help Portsmouth who urgently need to raise funds so they can pay off some of their bills and creditors.
Portsmouth, bottom of the Premier League, face a winding-up petition from the Government's Revenue and Customs office over an unpaid tax bill of around 25 million dollars on March 1st.
If Portsmouth are wound-up the players contracts cease to be assets of the club and it would also lose its membership of the Premier League.
That would have a huge impact on the competition, with the points clubs have won against them this season deducted from their current totals.
