SM
Spurs vs. Liverpool: 8 hrs 53 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Coventry City consider groundshare options as Ricoh Arena row continues

:Headline: Coventry City consider groundshare options as Ricoh Arena row continues: ID:359478: from db_amp
Sky Blues owners Sisu has taken its legal complaint over the sale of their home ground to rugby club Wasps to the European Commission.

Coventry have been forced to step up their plans to groundshare next season as the saga surrounding their use of the Ricoh Arena rumbles on.

Sky Blues owners Sisu has taken its legal complaint over the sale of their home ground to the rugby club Wasps, in 2014, to the European Commission.

As a result, Wasps said on Wednesday that they will not enter into talks with Coventry over their continued use of the stadium.

Wasps have always insisted that Sisu, which believes the sale of the stadium was illegal, must drop its challenge in the courts as a precursor to negotiations over a new agreement.

In a statement on Thursday evening, Coventry said the legal complaint is against Coventry City Council, who sold the stadium, and not against Wasps.

However, the League One club admit they are now "accelerating our back-up groundshare plans".

The Football League has given the club until May 29 to inform it where they will be playing their home games next season, and has told officials they do not want them to be based any further than six miles from their current home.

Coventry spent the 2013-14 campaign at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium, some 30 miles from the city, an arrangement which prompted many fans to stay away from 'home' games.

Two alternatives have been mooted, ground shares with either Birmingham, whose St Andrew's stadium lies outside the six-mile radius, or Coventry Rugby's Butts Park, which does not.

Wasps chief executive Nick Eastwood said on Wednesday that the legal action "regrettably means that the condition set out above for us to enter or continue discussions with CCFC has not been met".

Coventry's statement read: "The condition referenced yesterday by Nick has not been broken, but instead yet more onerous and undeliverable conditions have been added by Wasps to their pre-existing conditions to enter talks.

"Last Friday in our update to fans, we spoke of 'hurdles' and this is one of those hurdles that we alluded to. As a result, we are unfortunately accelerating our back-up groundshare plans."

The club added that "further details of discussions with Wasps Holdings Limited remain confidential, due to mutually signed confidentiality agreements".

amp_article__359478 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-05-16 20:22:08:
html db last update - 2019-05-16 20:22:08 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Coventry City

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds26158348192953
2Burnley26141023192252
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd26166436171952
4Sunderland26148439221750
5Middlesbrough26118743321141
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom26913432211140
7Blackburn RoversBlackburn2511682823539
8Bristol City2691073330337
9Watford25114103536-137
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds2610793840-237
11Norwich CityNorwich269984337636
12Swansea CitySwansea2697103030034
13Queens Park RangersQPR2671182934-532
14Millwall257992423130
15Preston North EndPreston2661282834-630
16Coventry CityCoventry2678113437-329
17Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2577112840-1228
18Derby CountyDerby2676133135-427
19Stoke CityStoke2669112432-827
20Luton TownLuton2674152744-1725
21Portsmouth2458113041-1123
22Hull City2658132536-1123
23Cardiff CityCardiff2558122540-1523
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2548132453-2920
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .