Oi! Mawhinney! Sort It! Tee Hee :-)
Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale has dismissed claims the Welsh club owe more than £30million of debts as an "ill-informed mixture of fiction and general confusion". Langston Corporation, a company claiming to be the club's principal financial backer, have initiated legal action against the Bluebirds, accusing their board of mismanaging the club's accounts and misleading supporters over their monetary health in the year ending May 2006. In a further attack, Langston, who claimed the club spent three months ignoring their demands to be repaid more than £30million of debts, told the board to either pay up or stand down. But Ridsdale, who took over in October, has strongly refuted the allegations and insists Langston, a contact of former chairman Sam Hammam, are not known by the current regime at Ninian Park. He said in a statement: "We are astonished at the press release sent out today appearing to come from someone representing the Langston Corporation. "The new board of Cardiff City Football Club and Cardiff City Council have for some time been trying to identify who Langston is and have continually come up against a brick wall. Far from refusing to talk to them, we don't know who they are. "Mr Hammam, our previous chairman, had been acting as the intermediary with Langston and we have been in constant dialogue with him. Indeed he has always refused to divulge the identity of Langston and therefore we could have never had any direct dialogue with them. "It was his auditors who undertook our 2006 audit. "We feel that this should now be properly dealt with through the legal process. "I want to reassure everyone connected with Cardiff City Football Club that the success that the current board have enjoyed in overcoming the acute financial hurdles they inherited and getting the stadium scheme funded, will continue. "Finally the statements in the unattributed press release seem to be an ill-informed mixture of fiction and general confusion and any allegations and innuendoes are refuted." Earlier, London law firm Hextalls LLP, on behalf of Langston, issued the following statement: "Hextalls LLP acts for Langston, the principal financial backers of Cardiff City Football Club. We have been instructed by them to commence proceedings against the club to recover funds amounting to more than £30million. "Our client's claim is that this sum is due for payment now as a result of the club's inability to meet certain deadlines as well as breaching the terms of its loan agreement in respect of the capital sum plus interest. "It had been hoped to resolve the matter privately and in confidence but the club has repeatedly ignored numerous requests to discuss the debt and its implications. "As a result of legal proceedings commencing, the issues have now become public and therefore this statement is being made. "The court action is being taken reluctantly but our client has been left with no alternative following the club's failure to respond to repeated approaches. "Our client has serious and increasing concerns about the club's present administration and its ability to manage the club's financial affairs. In the event that the club cannot meet its liabilities to our client, then the alternative is for the current board of directors to resign and our client endorse the appointment of a new Board and new management. "The club's board has also been advised by us that its recently submitted accounts for the year ending May 2006 do not reflect its true financial position. Clubs are, of course, governed by the Football League concerning their solvency and (as has recently been seen in the case of Leeds United FC) circumstances can arise causing a 10-point deduction. "We are conscious that this situation will cause concern and anxiety among supporters, players and employees but the club's failures left no alternative. "The situation has been compounded by the fact that for three months the club's chairman ignored repeated communications regarding the seriousness of the financial situation and there must be concerns if other Directors were not informed or if informed, took no notice. This increased the gravity of the situation and led to final representations being made to the club on 2 August 2007 with a request to respond within seven working days. In the event, an unsatisfactory response was received requesting an unacceptable delay until the end of August. "It should be stressed that our client remains committed to the club. It was their support that enabled the previous financial problems to be resolved and the stadium project to proceed." _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org
