RICOH ROW: MPs in call to ‘thrash’ out issues
MINISTERS have again called for those who could stop Coventry City Football Club becoming homeless to “thrash” out their issues at the negotiating table.
The ownership of the football stadium and the crisis currently facing the Sky Blues was taken to the top as the country’s MPs debated what could be done to stop the club potentially collapsing on January 15.
Colleen Fletcher, MP for Coventry North East, urged the club’s owners Sisu to “sell up and go”, saying their actions had been “divisive” and “toxic”.
And Marcus Jones, MP for Nuneaton, told Sisu to look at their “moral obligation to a city, a community and the fans who have supported this club for decades”.
But ultimately it was more negotiation that MPs agreed on.
Jim Cunningham, MP for Coventry South, who brought the debate to Westminster Hall, argued a mediator outside the football industry should be brought in to try and find common ground.
He said that while the legal proceedings would end at some point, the club “simply doesn’t have time”.
“Mediation has been attempted with an apparent lack of success but if the parties will not get round the table a mediator must be brought back,” he said.
He added: “Coventry City must stay at the Ricoh Arena next season. No other option is acceptable. To achieve this, all the parties need to get back around the negotiating table.
“There are too many red lines preventing talks. I understand the concerns of Wasps but I ask them to reconsider for the sake of the city.
“For their part, Sisu must consider what they might get from continued legal action. All fans agree that there is no judicial win that can outweigh the risks.”
The club is currently set to become homeless once a rent deal with Wasps to play at the Ricoh runs out in May.
Wasps has repeatedly said it will not discuss extending the lease until long-running legal action over the sale of the stadium ends.
And that deadlock is casting doubt on the future of the club altogether.
The club’s leaders have warned its future in the English Football League (EFL) is currently “severely at risk”, saying the League won’t allow them to play at a ground outside the city next season.
Mr Cunningham said he and Ms Fletcher had written to the EFL asking for a meeting and he was hoping it would go ahead next week.
He also argued that football clubs should be allowed the same protection as grounds when they are deemed assets of community value.
Colleen Fletcher, MP for Coventry North East, laid into the club’s owners Sisu as she urged them to “sell up and go”.
She added: “We want long term stability, a long term home in Coventry and owners we can trust.
“Sisu seem incapable of delivering this and on that basis they should sell up and go.”
Ms Fletcher said that instead of listening to Wasps’ warning that it would not renegotiate the club staying on at the stadium unless legal action ended and making efforts to “rebuild relationships”, Sisu’s actions had been “divisive” and “toxic”.
“This has left many fans fearful that the club may leave Coventry again or worse still cease to exist altogether,” she said.
“Both scenarios would be disastrous for the city and for the club and neither must must be allowed to happen under any circumstances.
“Time and time again Sisu’s actions have called into question their suitability, capability and fitness to own and run a football club.
“They have repeatedly acted contrary to the best interests of the club and have shown at best indifference and at worst disdain for the loyal fans, the wider local community and the city of Coventry as a whole.”
Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay, insisted Sisu had got to “take full square the blame for where the club is now”.
Mr Cunningham added: “Football clubs owners own something far more important than just a business. They owe it to the community to run the club carefully and responsibly.
“The fit and proper persons test is failing. It is simply allowing too many football clubs to fall into the hands of inadequate people.”
He added: “I think Sisu should sit back and reflect and one of the things that they have got to get away from is distancing themselves from the club.
“While Sisu have spent huge sums on this legal action the real consequences are felt by the club.”
Marcus Jones, MP for Nuneaton and a Coventry City fan himself, said thousands and thousands of fans, including
himself, were “starting to think the unthinkable”.
“That after the end of this season a football club with 136 years of proud history could cease to exist in just a few months if it cannot extend its deal with Wasps at the Ricoh Arena,” he said.
He urged Sisu to look at their “moral obligation to a city, a community and the fans who have supported this club for decades”.
He also called on the EFL to clarify exactly what they would accept from Coventry City.
And while he said he would possibly do the same as Wasps in their position, he also believes questions need to be asked of Wasps.
“We also need to ask them if they are willing to allow what has been the largest sporting club in Coventry a situation where it may cease to exist,” he said.
This is now the fourth government debate held in recent years regarding the future of Coventry City Football Club.
The last debate took place last February with the threat to the club’s future only worsening since.
Following the meeting, Mr Cunningham admitted the “solution to Coventry City’s situation does not rest in Westminster, it rests entirely on the shoulders of the disputing parties”.
He added: “However, I will continue to work closely with other local MPs, and hopefully with the Government and the EFL, in order to make sure that we do our part in bringing all sides back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
Mediation ordered by the Court of Appeal as well as previous government intervention has already failed.