Ricoh Arena bosses have ruled out an approach to the administrator to prevent the imminent liquidation of Coventry City Football Club Limited.
Arena Coventry Limited has also defended its refusal on August 2 to bring CCFC Ltd out of administration by signing administrator Paul Appleton’s revised Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).
After that, the Football League deducted ten points from Coventry City’s Division One campaign this season and sees the club rooted at the bottom of the table despite excellent team performances.
Coventry City bosses say they are “mystified” as to why Coventry City Council declined the CVA which “neither the club or the fans” have benefited from.
ACL has consistently said since August 2 it hopes for a revised CVA which could prevent CCFC Ltd’s liquidation - leading to fans’ speculation that, in theory at least, the League might consider reversing the ten point penalty.
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But, as we revealed this week, Mr Appleton said that would require ACL to put forward new proposals that could be acceptable to all creditors, and he had received no ACL approach.
Mr Appleton, as an officer of the court, had prior to August 2 rejected ACL’s proposed modifications to his CVA - which included a condition that Coventry City return to the Ricoh as tenants for ten years on a vastly reduced rent deal - stating the modifications were not possible in law.
The League told the Telegraph on Tuesday there was now no hope of the ten points being handed back to the Sky Blues as the rejection of the CVA - also rejected by HM Revenue and Customs - had resulted in the League on the same day handing its crucial “golden share” to Sisu company Otium to run the club.
It was awarded on condition Otium accepted the ten-point penalty and that ACL as a creditor would still get the £590,000 it would have received had the CVA been signed.
Questioned further by the Telegraph over their reasons for rejecting the CVA, an ACL spokesman said: “ACL does not currently anticipate formally requesting another CVA from the administrator. He has made it quite clear to all stakeholders that he plans to conduct the remainder of the process as he sees fit.
“ACL’s motivation for rejecting the CVA was about much more than pure financial interest. Along with various other parties, ranging from Sky Blues fans and Supporters Direct through to local MPs and potential bidders, ACL was not happy with the way the administration process was run.
“Accepting the CVA would have been a tacit approval of a process that few people save Sisu and the administrator had any faith in. Along with HMRC, ACL rejected the CVA.
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“We did so because we have significant doubts about how the process has been managed – particularly with new evidence that the administrator should have been aware of coming to light on an almost weekly basis.”
Paul Appleton Mr Appleton has stated he had acted as an officer of the court in discharging his duties to creditors in accordance with the law - and that a sale of the assets in CCFC Ltd for £1.5million to Otium was the only realistic option available to him.
He had made clear that the company would move to liquidation if a CVA could not be agreed.
Tim Fisher, Coventry City chief executive, said: “It still mystifies us why the council voted down the CVA, particularly when the Higgs charity (Alan Higgs Centre Trust) voted to accept it.
“The subsequent ‘explanations’ have not given any clarity on the motivation for the council voting that way - in fact, the numerous reasons given in subsequent weeks are contradictory, make the situation more confused and also fly in the face of the stated desire to move on – something everyone wants to happen.
“The only outcome is that the club have been penalised 10 points – and clearly neither the club nor the fans benefits from that.
“We want to look forward. The penalty points deduction means that life has been made even harder for the manager, players and supporters, but all are determined to succeed and already Steven Pressley and the team have made great strides forward.”
Coventry City boss Tim Fisher In a separate development, a scrutiny committee at Coventry City Council is to examine the business of the council-owned Ricoh Arena now it has no Coventry City Football Club playing there.
Councillors want to examine claims there is a viable way forward for the stadium.
ACL will go before the finance and corporate services scrutiny board on November 25.
Labour councillor Tony Skipper said on Facebook: “It was decided that serious scrutiny of ACL by Coventry councillors was overdue.
“My view is that football or no football, not enough is happening at the Ricoh Arena.
“This is no secret and in keeping with it the decision has my full support.”
Ann Lucas As we have reported, Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas has claimed the Ricoh is “very profitable” without the football club.
Meanwhile, Coventry North east MP Bob Ainsworth has tabled another Parliamentary motion over the Sky Blues saga - in which he claims the Football League is not fit for purpose.
He claimed that the League in allowing the Sky Blues’ groundshare at Northampton Town without a clear plan for the club’s return acted against the League’s insolvency policy.
The League denies this, saying its regulations give its board “discretion”, and that it had acted to keep the Sky Blues alive amid a “commercial dispute” between the Ricoh’s landlord and tenant.
Mr Ainsworth’s Early Day Motion (EDM) also highlights how League chairman Greg Clarke told this newspaper he had no idea if Coventry City would ever return to Coventry.
Mr Ainsworth has also received a letter from Companies House stating it has issued a final warning to the Sky Blues’ directors to file late accounts for Coventry City Football (Holdings) Ltd, Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Ltd and Otium Entertainment Group Ltd.
