Coventry City owners taking Ricoh complaints to Europe

Coventry City FC owners Sisu have said they will take their complaint over the council’s sale of Ricoh Arena to the European Commission.

In April, it was announced that attempts by Sisu-owned Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Ltd to reverse the sale of the stadium had been rejected by the UK’s Supreme Court.

They wanted permission to reverse the 2014 decision not to allow a judicial review of the sale, saying that the council had undervalued the stadium by £28m when it was sold to rugby union side Wasps.

Escalating the stadium tug-of-war, it is now thought that Sisu will argue that the alleged undervaluing of the stadium by the council counted as state aid, which is regulated by the European Union.

The EU stipulates how much government money can be given to commercial enterprises, although exemptions have been granted to stadium redevelopments in the past.

It was though that once the UK’s Supreme Court had rejected Sisu’s complaints, that the way would once again be open for a groundshare between League One side Coventry and the Wasps.

However the Wasps, who have recently secured a major sponsorship deal with Vodafone, which will be upgrading Ricoh, have said in the past that they would only consider a groundshare once all legal action had been discontinued.

Nick Eastwood, chief executive of Wasps Group, said: “As everyone knows, we have consistently maintained over a long period of time that we were happy to sit down with Coventry City to reach agreement over their future at Ricoh Arena, once the club’s owners had agreed to cease all legal action or proceedings surrounding our acquisition and ownership of Ricoh Arena.

“However, we have now been made aware of this complaint to the EU Commission and understand that it was filed in February, well before the discussions set out above were commenced.

“We further understand that the basis of the complaint to the EU is very similar in all matters of substance to the recent court actions, questions those court decisions and seeks remedial action.

“Regrettably, this means that the condition set out above for us to enter or continue discussions with CCFC has not been met. The ball is therefore back in the court of CCFC’s owners.

“We believe it is in everyone’s interest that Coventry City play their home games at Ricoh Arena, and we would urge the owners of Coventry City to take steps to make that happen.”

A post by Coventry City on social media said: “Coventry City Football Club has no comment to make at this time regarding media reports overnight.

“Talks continue with Wasps Holdings Limited regarding extending our tenancy at the Ricoh Arena.”

Coventry City Council have been contacted for comment.

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