Coventry City high court battle: All you need to know

A judicial review is procedure by which a court reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body - in this case Coventry City Council.

Judicial reviews are a challenge to the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the rights and wrongs of the conclusion reached.

It is not concerned with the conclusions of that process, and whether those were right, as long as the right procedures have been followed.

If the process finds a decision was not taken lawful, it can take action including the award of damages. This has become the shorthand term for the first legal battle between Coventry City’s owners and Coventry City Council over the Ricoh Arena.

The first judicial review looked at the £14.4million council loan to Ricoh Arena operating company ACL, which the club’s owners argued was state aid, not made on commercial terms and was motivated by malice and a desire to force them out of CCFC.

But a High Court judge ruled the council had not acted unlawfully. Sisu subsequently failed to have that ruling overturned in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

This judicial review is now over.

This is the moniker informally attributed to the impending court battle between Coventry City’s owners and Coventry City Council over the Ricoh Arena.

Lawyers acting for the owners of CCFC will argue the council’s agreement to sell its share in the stadium was not made on commercial terms and would amount to a breach of European state aid regulations.

There could be changes to the exact nature of the legal challenge as a recent council statement indicated Sisu would seek to “amend their claim form” during the hearing.

Otium is one of three organisations taking Coventry City Council to court. This company is essentially the business side of Coventry City, handling the day to day running of the club.

It’s also the organisation which owns the Football League ‘golden share’ - which grants the right to compete.

The company currently has one director listed - CCFC chairman Tim Fisher.

SBSL is the parent company of Otium Entertainment Group Limited.

It currently has two directors listed - Tim Fisher and Laura Deering, the close advisor of Sisu boss Joy Seppala.

This Sisu-related firm is based in Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands.

Companies House documents show Arvo has a charge secured against the club’s Ryton training ground.

Little else is known about the off-shore firm. Sisu are the ultimate owners of Otium Entertainment and Sky Blue Sports and Leisure.

The Kensington-based hedge fund is not directly involved in the legal proceedings.

It currently has two people listed as directors - Joy Seppala and Dermot Coleman.

The local authority for the city of Coventry is headed up by chief executive Martin Reeves.

Coventry City Council is still the freehold owner of the Ricoh Arena.

Their top lawyer is Helen Lynch, but she is set to leave after this hearing. James Goudie QC will represent the council in court.

The rugby club has been named as an interested party by the claimants as they are directly affected by the action.

Wasps completed the takeover of the Ricoh Arena business in November 2014.

The club paid £2.77m to the council for their half of the ACL business.

They also took on the remainder of a £14.4m council loan to the Ricoh business as part of the deal - which it later paid back in full.

The club was granted a 250-year lease for the stadium - replacing an existing 45-year lease.

Another £2.77m was paid to the Alan Edward Higgs Charity, who owned the other 50 per cent of the Ricoh business. It currently has nine directors including owner Derek Richardson and chief executive Nick Eastwood.

ACL has traditionally been the Ricoh Arena business which oversaw the running of the stadium.

It was formerly an organisation owned 50-50 by Coventry City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity.

ACL is now owned 100 per cent by Wasps.

It currently has four directors - including Wasps chief executive Nick Eastwood.

AEHC is a registered grant-making charity established in 1979 on the death of Alan Higgs to benefit the inhabitants within a 25 mile radius of Coventry.

It formerly owned 50 per cent of the Ricoh Arena business ACL having stepped in to buy CCFC’s share when the football club could no longer afford to progress the Ricoh Arena project on its own.

The charity agreed to sell its 50 per cent share of ACL to Wasps shortly after the council had completed the sale of its share.

An eleventh hour bid for the charity’s share was submitted by the football club, but it was rejected in favour of the Wasps deal. Read more about the reasons why here. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/ coventry-news/alanedward-higgs-charityreveal-8115323

The charity’s board of trustees is headed by Marilyn KnatchbullHugessen.

It has decided not to have legal representation at the upcoming hearing.