Financial Problems Hit Cardiff - 18/11/2007

Former Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale has been pitched into a legal battle that could force his new club, Cardiff City, into administration. Langston Corporation, thought to be owed £30m by Cardiff City, said that it had no confidence in the board, led by Ridsdale as chairman, and that the club should either pay the debt or relinquish control to them. Langston, a Switzerland-based investment comapny, is taking the club to court next month. The legal battle has sparked fears that Cardiff may go the same way as Leeds and face administration, which would lead to the penalty of starting the new season with a ten-point deficit. However, Langston said that it had no intention of attempting to wind up the club and accused the Cardiff board of raising 'the spectre of administration'. Ridsdale says that the debt inherited from Sam Hammam was negotiated down from £30m to £15m, payable by 2016, by selling the naming rights for the club's proposed £200m stadium to Langston.