Fears that Coventry City may have to go into administration have grown after an investigation by the Coventry Evening Telegraph revealed that the first call on the club’s assets are now held by a company registered in the Cayman Islands called Arvo Master Fund Ltd.
Fears that Coventry City may have to go into administration have grown after an investigation by the Coventry Evening Telegraph revealed that the first call on the club’s assets are now held by a company registered in the Cayman Islands called Arvo Master Fund Ltd.
One of the problems is that the club doesn’t really have any assets to call on. It has been estimated that it will need £3m just to get through the close seasonn and this money may not be available.
Of course, it is not unusual for offshore companies to be involved in football clubs. This is the situation at Charlton where we do not really know who the ultimate owner of the club is, but the difference from Coventry is that the money needed to secure promotion was forthcoming.
Arvo now effectively control the club. Sisu, Coventry’s owners, claim that it just a matter of moving assets between different companies owned by the group, but Coventry City Council are concerned about a lack of transparency over a five year period.
Going into administration might not be a complete disaster for the Sky Blues. The potential for the club is there and new owners would enjoy some goodwill from the City Council and other players. However, administration is a high risk process which can lead to a club disappearing, particularly when there are few tangible assets.