Heres the reply they sent me today from the rant i sent them the other day:
Thank you for your email and the points you raise. We have received numerous emails and telephone calls from Coventry City fans concerned at the on-going situation at the club. We can assure you that your email has been read but given the volume of emails, we cannot always provide an individual response.
As background, it is worth clarifying the administration process and explaining the role of The Football League. The administrator is an officer of the High Court and owes duties to both the Court and creditors. It is the administrator that controls whatever assets an insolvent company holds and he has to determine the sale process in accordance with principles of Insolvency Law. The League plays no part in this and ultimately has to try and work with the administrator’s nominated purchaser. The Football League’s role is to administer and regulate the competition that it’s members play in and only has the power to do so within its regulations. These are available to view on our website here:
http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/RegulationsIndex/0,,10794,00.html.
The administrator sold the assets under his control to Otium Entertainment Group and The League currently remains in discussions with Otium and the administrator to determine whether the Club can exit from administration in accordance with our Insolvency Policy.
Each Football Club is a business in its own right and The Football League has no direct influence with regards to negotiations over lease agreements, stadium ownership etc. We regulate the competition that our clubs play in and ultimately aim to ensure that they all retain their membership of The League within the competition structure.
The club’s owners have for some time been in dispute with the owners of the Ricoh Arena – Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) with regards to the playing of matches at the Ricoh Arena. It is The League Board’s view that it is a matter of regret that to date it has not proved possible for both parties to reconcile their differences. Otium made a request to the Board of Directors of The Football League to play it’s home matches at Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium.
In considering this request The League has stated that it believes that clubs should play in towns and cities from which they take their name. Nonetheless, from time to time, the Board is asked to consider temporary relocations as a means of securing a club’s on-going participation in our competition. With no prospect of an agreement being reached between Otium and ACL, the Board was placed in an invidious position - with the very real possibility of Coventry City being unable to fulfil its fixtures for next season. This would inevitably call into question the club’s continued membership of The Football League.
With the new season less than four weeks away, the Board required certainty as to where the Club would play its matches from the start of the new campaign. Reluctantly, the Board of Directors of The Football League has approved the application to relocate on a temporary basis only. The League has set out certain requirements of this consent in order to ensure the best outcome possible for the football club. Otium must provide a Performance Bond of £1m with The Football League as an assurance of the club’s commitment to return to the Coventry area. In addition, the Board's approval remains entirely conditional on the Club ultimately exiting administration in accordance with The Football League’s conditions and achieving a successful transfer of its League share.
The League continues to urge both Otium and ACL to continue to explore every possible opportunity to resolve this dispute, for the good of the City of Coventry, its football club and people living in the local community.
Thank you for contacting The Football League.
Kind Regards
