Coventry City Football Club and its owners' primary objective remains building a long-term future...
The Judgement by Hickinbottom J, that the Council's (CCC) decision to provide a £14.4 million loan to private stadium management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) was not an unlawful subsidy, is unfortunate.
The football club and its owners believe that the loan, which exceeded the value of the stadium by almost 200%, was neither lawful nor in the interests of the supporters, taxpayers, stadium operators or the Club.
ACL will now remain burdened with debt for the next 43 years, removing any prospect of a long term return to the stadium by the Club. With this level of debt there is no realistic prospect of any sports franchise or ACL being able to generate sufficient revenue to be commercially viable.
We will apply for leave to appeal this decision. Now, more than ever, the new stadium is the only viable commercial option. The owner's primary objective remains building a long term sound financial platform for the future growth of the Club.