Coventry City receive suspended points deduction
Coventry City FC has received a five-point deduction to be suspended for the remainder of the season and the 2023/2024 season.
The news comes after the club acknowledged that it breached EFL regulations, relating to pitch maintenance back in August.
Fixtures against Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town were postponed or moved after the pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena was deemed unplayable and unsafe.
The football club will now pay compensation to the away Clubs, along with £6,000 for the EFL’s investigation.
Sky Blues chief executive Dave Boddy said: “Our supporters will know that we were left with a pitch at the Arena that was unsafe, dangerous and unplayable for our first games of the season, following the broken promises of a new pitch by Wasps, and the extensive usage at the Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s.
“The debacle they caused – and the cashflow problems, reputational damage and inconvenience they created for the Football Club, as well as impacting upon our sporting performance and our supporters – should have been an indication to us all of the financial plight they were facing.
“Despite the nature of our tenancy at the Arena, and the lack of any control of pitch maintenance at the Arena, it remains our responsibility as an EFL club to adhere to the regulations of the competition. We have accepted the decision of the EFL and the sanctions imposed on us, to minimise the sanctions that would imposed upon us, with the point deduction being suspended.
“We hope that this draws a line under this and that this is a situation that should never be repeated at the Arena.”
“Extensive” work was completed at the end of August, with synthetic fibres stitched into the ground throughout the pitch. These new fibres give increased stability to the existing structure and then allow for better growth now and in the future.
Areas which were more widely damaged were subjected to extensive and increased maintenance work to be fully integrated with the existing pitch.
