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Sisu has lost its High Court battle with Coventry City Council, it was announced today.

In a 60-second hearing this morning at Birmingham's High Court, Mr Justice Hickinbottom said the council had successfully defended the claim brought by the owners of Coventry City FC

Referring to a 100-page judgment, the judge said: ''This claim fails formally on grounds one and three of the judgment and I refuse permission for further action on ground two of the judgment.''

The verdict was delivered following a judicial review at Birmingham High Court earlier this month, which looked at a £14.4million council loan to ACL - the operators of the Ricoh Arena.

Coventry City Football Club owners Sisu claimed the loan amounted to unlawful state aid and that the council had made an irrational decision when agreeing the deal.

The council argued it had acted to protect its investment in ACL after the football club began withholding its rent payments.

Their lawyers claimed that the judicial review had been pursued as part of a Sisu plan to 'distress' ACL - and therefore ultimately gain control of the Ricoh Arena.

But, following the three-day hearing earlier in June, Mr Justice Hickinbottom took less than a minute to throw out Sisu's case.

Perhaps tellingly, no football club representatives or members of their legal team were present to hear the judge deliver his ruling.

However, the council's legal team and finance officer Chris West were in attendance for the judge's brief but significant appearance in court.

The judge dismissed Sisu's claims on ground one and three of his judgment, and prevented them from taking further action to recover damages in ground two.

Looking at the issue of 'state aid' in ground one, Justice Hickinbottom concluded: “I do not consider that the council's loan to ACL was state aid. Ground one consequently fails.”

Ground two analysed whether the council had taken into account material considerations when agreeing to make the loan to ACL.

The judge took into account seven key matters when making his decision and concluded: “I do not consider there is any arguable force in any of the seven discrete elements of ground two.”

The judge's analysis of ground three - Sisu's claim that the council acted 'irrationally' - was brief and stated that: “It clearly cannot survive my findings in relation to other grounds, particularly those in respect of state aid.”

A statement released by Coventry City Football Club following the hearing said: "The judgement by Hickinbottom J, that the council's decision to provide a £14.4m loan to private stadium management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) was not an unlawful subsidy, is unfortunate.

"The football club and its owners believe that the loan, which exceeded the value of the stadium by almost 200 per cent, was neither lawful nor in the interests of the supporters, taxpayers, stadium operators or the club.

"ACL will now remain burdened with debt for the next 43 years, removing any prospect of a long term return to the stadium by the club. With this level of debt there is no realistic prospect of any sports franchise or ACL being able to generate sufficient revenue to be commercially viable.

"We will apply for leave to appeal this decision. Now, more than ever, the new stadium is the only viable commercial option. The owner's primary objective remains building a long term sound financial platform for the future growth of the club. "

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