PORTSMOUTH have confirmed they are being sued by former player Sol Campbell on the day that the club’s chief executive, Peter Storrie, appeared in court accused of cheating the public revenue.

In the latest financial blow for the south coast club, it has been confirmed that Campbell, now at Arsenal, has issued a writ through his lawyers for £1.7m he says he is owed in image rights and bonus payments.

Portsmouth confirmed the receipt of the writ yesterday and a club spokesman said: “The matter is being dealt with by our lawyers.”

The writ comes as Portsmouth prepare to appeal against a High Court judge’s decision to dismiss their application to have a winding up petition from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs struck out.

The club have argued that the VAT portion of the tax bill is too high by £7.5m.

Meanwhile, Storrie, 57, appeared at Southwark Crown Court accused of cheating the public revenue over a signing-on fee paid to a player. The case was adjourned to April 15 and Judge Peter Testar set a date for a trial for May 16, 2011.

Storrie spoke to confirm his name during the preliminary hearing in London, but the charge was not put to him and he was not asked to enter a plea.

He is alleged to have cheated the public revenue between July 1, 2003 and November 28, 2007 over a signing-on fee to Amdy Faye when he moved from Auxerre to Portsmouth.

He is accused of arranging for the fee to Faye to be paid via the bank account of an agent, Willie McKay, in order to “conceal its true nature and purpose”, thereby “causing a failure on the part of the club to operate PAYE and account for income tax and national insurance contributions in respect of that fee”.

Storrie, who has said that he will defend himself in the ‘‘strongest possible terms’’ against the charge, was given unconditional bail.