Blackpool: High Court appoints receiver over £25m owed to Valeri Belokon

rangeral

Well-Known Member
Blackpool have been put into receivership by the High Court, forcing owner Owen Oyston to pay ex-director Valeri Belokon the £25m he is owed. The ruling could pave the way for a takeover, but the English Football League must now decide whether to dock the League One club 12 points. Oyston, 85, was ordered to buy Belokon out for £31.27m in November 2017.

The EFL said in a statement that they will "consider the matter" at their next meeting on 6 March. Chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "We will be seeking an early meeting with the receiver, so as to ensure that the best interests of the club can be jointly considered, against the context of our regulatory framework." According to EFL regulations, any club that becomes subject to an insolvency event, including the appointment of a receiver, could be deducted 12 points. The receiver will be asked to discharge some of Oyston's assets, plus those of Blackpool Football Club (Properties) Ltd, which owns the football club, stadium, training ground and nearby Travelodge, reported the Blackpool Gazette.

In a statement, Belokon's legal team from Clifford Chance LLP, said they hoped the decision would "herald a new chapter in the proud history of a prestigious club. The application was a ground-breaking one in the football industry, with the judge confirming that it was in the interests of justice for the appointment to be made," it said.
"It potentially marks a watershed moment for Blackpool Football Club and its loyal fanbase."

What led to Wednesday's court date?

Belokon has been in dispute with Oyston for several years and won a High Court case in 2017 when he successfully sued Oyston and his son Karl, the club's former chief executive, after discovering that they had "asset-stripped" Blackpool by paying themselves huge bonuses and salaries following the club's season in the Premier League in 2010-11.

The Latvian businessman was awarded more than £31m but after several missed deadlines is still owed £25m. Oyston, who bought the club in 1988, claimed last year that Belokon had refused the opportunity to take over Blackpool for £5m.

However, Belokon, who bought a 20% stake in the Tangerines in 2006, is currently disqualified from club ownership after being given a 20-year jail term in Kyrgyzstan for "money laundering, tax evasion and dishonesty" in his absence in May 2017. He subsequently failed the English Football League's Owners' and Directors' Test in September 2017. Despite this, Belokon said in April he was working with the EFL to reverse the decision to disqualify him because it ignored "basic principles of natural justice".

Blackpool are eighth in the third tier but a 12-point deduction would leave them just two points above the relegation zone. A large section of the club's supporters have boycotted matches and held protests against the Oyston family for several years over their running of the Lancashire club.
 
I seriously hope that this is the beginning of the end for the Oystons - Hope they have to repay anything they may have 'inadvertently' taken out of that club !
Hopefully Blackpool will soon be back to the real world of football !

Come on you Tangerines !
 
If Belokon was able to sue Oyston for asset stripping by giving himself massive bonuses, why can’t Rangers sue Ashley for asset stripping by putting in place clearly unfavourable retail agreements when he had power?
 
Terrible that great clubs are at the mercy of scummy businessmen who are only interested in money .

Rules should be in place to protect clubs
 
If Belokon was able to sue Oyston for asset stripping by giving himself massive bonuses, why can’t Rangers sue Ashley for asset stripping by putting in place clearly unfavourable retail agreements when he had power?
Good question. I suspect the answer being that UK company law is not fit for purpose but Ashley, etc being more clued up.

That said, you do not get better than Clifford Chance.
 
Wonderful news for my adopted home town.

It's been sad to see Bloomfield Road so empty in recent years.

The Oyston's are a cancer, much like Ashley, Blackpool FC are today ringing the bell.
 
Something happening to him with out his consent, by him I mean Owen oyston. The convicted rapist. Scum bag
 
Will Belokon be any better? Looking at his previous I would have concerns.

However, Belokon, who bought a 20% stake in the Tangerines in 2006, is currently disqualified from club ownership after being given a 20-year jail term in Kyrgyzstan for "money laundering, tax evasion and dishonesty" in his absence in May 2017. He subsequently failed the English Football League's Owners' and Directors' Test in September 2017. Despite this, Belokon said in April he was working with the EFL to reverse the decision to disqualify him because it ignored "basic principles of natural justice".
 
Will Belokon be any better? Looking at his previous I would have concerns.

However, Belokon, who bought a 20% stake in the Tangerines in 2006, is currently disqualified from club ownership after being given a 20-year jail term in Kyrgyzstan for "money laundering, tax evasion and dishonesty" in his absence in May 2017. He subsequently failed the English Football League's Owners' and Directors' Test in September 2017. Despite this, Belokon said in April he was working with the EFL to reverse the decision to disqualify him because it ignored "basic principles of natural justice".

Exactly probably be a run of spivs for them now.
 
About time,take in games when down with the family and will now be able to buy a pie inside the ground knowing he won’t be getting my money.
 
Great news for them if they manage to get rid of those vile Oyston bastards, but this guy Belokon sounds pretty dodgy himself :oops:
 
Great news for them if they manage to get rid of those vile Oyston bastards, but this guy Belokon sounds pretty dodgy himself :oops:

True enough but on paper DK sounds like a cheese merchant but he’s given his all to turn us around albeit with a few nightmares along the way.
 
Back
Top