Bluebirds dispute ‘a power battle’

Dec 9 2007 by Chris Wathan, Wales On Sunday

CARDIFF CITY are ready to make a last-ditch bid to avoid meltdown by offering to pay back creditors Langston their £24m early – but only if they call off their court action.

Wales on Sunday understands Peter Ridsdale and his fellow directors are happy to negotiate an accelerated repayment programme which would see the debt repaid before the current 2016 deadline.

But that offer only stands if the costly court action is called off and any claims to the club renounced.

Ridsdale has always maintained he is willing to repay Langston – reportedly represented by former Bluebirds’ owner Sam Hammam – their full monies owed in due course, and the legal wranglings have only delayed efforts to raise cash through avenues such as stadium naming rights.

The Bluebirds’ offer comes after the latest attempt to thrash out an end to the dispute was scuppered after plans for tomorrow’s face-to-face meeting between the club and the loan-note holders fell apart.

Now, with banks putting the squeeze on City, it means the club could yet be forced into administration.

Whatever happens, the Ninian Park outfit are facing a bleak winter and bracing themselves for the loss of their star players and the stadium dream.

Last night a dispute resolution expert contacted by Wales on Sunday said the latest breakdown in communications suggested the mysterious Swiss-based company known only to Hammam was more concerned with obtaining power at the club rather than getting its cash back.

Studying the available evidence he said there were tell-tale signs in the dispute to suggest the club was in the middle of a power struggle.

Peter Coyle, senior partner in law firm and dispute resolution experts, Coyle White Devine explained: “It’s the one reason for Langston to be pushing so aggressively.

“It seems not to be about money but enabling a negotiating point to take some kind of control of the club.

“There is certainly more to this than your run-of-the-mill commercial debt case; in my professional opinion it is a power struggle.”

With major stadium investors PMG understood to be firmly against a return of Hammam or any other Langston representative on the City board.

PMG directors Paul Guy and Mike Hall are currently guaranteeing the shortfall on the stadium project, but that could be thrown into doubt should there be a change in the Ninian Park boardroom.

Officially Hammam has nothing to do with the case brought against City, but long-term friend and Cardiff supporters club official Vince Alm has given a clear indication it is indeed Hammam behind it.

He is also the man fans are blaming for the club’s worrying plight. Alm said: “Sam is either part of Langston or the main guy. I think he could call off this court case if he wanted to. I’ve personally pleaded with him to stop the legal action.

“I’ve been talking to both parties to try to get the best for this football club and I’ve been trying to get them to meet.”

Alm was convinced the opposing sides were ready to convene this week before dialogue broke down.

On the possibility of Cardiff seeking a settlement to end the row, Coyle added: “If Cardiff are willing to repay then it seems to be a fantastic solution because if the club goes belly up then Langston – or whoever is behind them – are looking at something like a repayment of two pence in the pound, if that. It is bizarre why they wouldn’t accept such a proposal.

“On balance, they might not feel there is any substance in it, but if the offer is real then you feel there must be more to this.”

Now it appears there will be a long wait for further movement in the case with Hammam believed to be jetting off to New York to visit family for Christmas.

With the club now facing a serious cash-flow problem with banks thought to have frozen assets because of the uncertainty, administration could become a reality before the two protagonists meet in court, with no new date and delays possible up until March.

It is unclear just how severe the immediate cash-crisis is, but it is understood the PFA are monitoring the situation in case they should need to step in.

Chairman Ridsdale is working tirelessly to avoid the worst-case scenario, but he admitted: “Administration is a last resort and I’m doing everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen. I didn’t come here and create financial stability only to be tripped up half way through.

“Things had been going well before this stumbling block which we could do without. I care passionately about Cardiff City Football Club and its future – I hope our creditors would, too, but their actions let us question that. I hope they could demonstrate if they care at all.”

On the subject of selling players to raise quick cash to stabilise the situation, he added: “I can’t rule that out. We can’t sell any players until the January transfer window. If we get to January without administration and we still need cash we would have to look at all avenues and if we believed it was right [to sell players] to create financial stability we will have to consider it.

“I don’t want to sell. We’ve spent a lot of time putting a team together but I’ve got a financial responsibility as director.”

Page two: Wales on Sunday contacted dispute resolution expert Peter Coyle to get his opinion on Cardiff’s City’s legal fight.