The future of Liverpool FC in the balance

The future of Premier League club Liverpool could be decided Wednesday when a judge rules in a bitter ownership dispute over whether the board has the right to sell one of the world’s most famous sporting institutions.

Mr Justice Floyd told a packed London court room Tuesday he would rule Wednesday morning after listening to hours of legal arguments between the owners, creditors and board over who has control of the club.

The bitter dispute engulfing Liverpool went to court after American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett sought to sack members of the board last week, in a last-ditch bid to prevent them from selling the club.

The board agreed a 300 million pound sale with New England Sports Ventures (NESV), owners of baseball’s Boston Red Sox, ahead of a looming deadline for the repayment of debt which could put the club into administration if it is missed.

Lawyers for Hicks and Gillett said they had been forced to take the drastic action because those same board members had failed to consult the owners properly and failed to consider alternative offers for the club.

One such offer was made public Tuesday when Singapore billionaire Peter Lim released a statement saying he had offered 320 million pounds for the club in cash.

Lim, who made a fortune through stockbroking and is Singapore’s eighth richest man, also said he would make a further 40 million pounds available for new players.

Major creditor the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) brought the case against the owners because they want the board to be free to sell the club so they can recoup their money.

If the judge rules against RBS and in favour of the owners, the club looks likely to miss the debt deadline, meaning it could be put into administration and docked nine points under Premier League rules.

Lawyers for the owners argued in court that they should be given more time to find a better offer and said RBS had options to defer any decision on administration if they chose to.
Source: Reuters