SISU, which owns Coventry City, has said it will end its legal action against the local council over the sale of the Ricoh Arena if it receives support to build a new stadium for the League One football club.
SISU has been involved in a long-running case against Coventry City Council as it feels the council undervalued the sale of the Ricoh Arena when selling it to Premiership Rugby club Wasps back in 2014.
Coventry currently has a deal in place with Wasps to continue playing at the 32,000-seat Ricoh Arena until the end of the 2018-19 season and the club has reiterated its desire to continue playing at the stadium next season.
The English Football League has demanded clarity over where Coventry will play next season and earlier this month the club was given extra time to finalise plans to play at the Ricoh Arena.
Should Coventry be unable to satisfy the requirements, the club faces the prospect of an Extraordinary General Meeting of Clubs being convened to consider its expulsion from the EFL on April 25. EFL clubs would need to be notified no later than April 2 of an EGM.
In a statement published on Coventry’s website, SISU has now said it would be willing to drop the litigation against the council – if the council supports a stadium development in Coventry, and a medium-term interim agreement is reached with Wasps on “commercially acceptable terms” to continue playing at the Ricoh Arena until a new stadium is complete.
SISU said that so far neither of these things have materialised, which it says leaves it with no option but to continue with the challenge.
Coventry first moved to the Ricoh Arena in 2005.
Image: Gloworm 44
