Coventry City face 15-point penalty as part of club faces liquidation

Coventry City are facing a 15-point deduction after creditors rejected a deal over debts and left part of the club on the brink of liquidation.
They are still set to start the League One season at Crawley on Saturday.
Coventry City FC Ltd went into administration in March following a rent-row with Arena Coventry Limited.

It now faces liquidation after ACL, which runs the Ricoh Arena, rejected a Company Voluntary Arrangement at a creditors' meeting on Friday.
Had the CVA, a payment scheme between an ailing company and its creditors, been accepted, the club may have been able to come out of administration.

Analysis

"As if the situation hasn't been unsettling enough for Sky Blues fans, this impending liquidation will feel like the final straw.
"In some ways it was perhaps inevitable: both sides in the row, ACL and Sisu always seemed reluctant to concede any ground in their pursuit of a solution and this is the result.
"The operational side of the club - Coventry City Holdings - are setting up urgent talks with the Football League to decide what happens next. High on the list will be the extent of any penalty, likely to be at least 15 points."
Dan Wheeler, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

However ACL, which operates the stadium on behalf of Coventry City Council and the Alan Higgs Centre Trust, expressed its concerns over the club's agreed groundshare at Northampton's Sixfields Stadium for the next three seasons and the club's financial future, leading it to reject the CVA alongside Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

A Coventry club statement read: "It is with great regret that a proposed CVA has been rejected by ACL.
"It means CCFC Ltd is likely to be put into liquidation which is expected to result in a points penalty for the club going into the new season.
"The football club and the Alan Higgs Centre Trust accepted the administrator's CVA, but the City Council, through ACL, have chosen to reject it, leading to possible liquidation and the risk of a 15-point deduction.
"The club will hold urgent meetings with the Football League this afternoon to go through the next steps for the football club."
The day prior to the creditors' meeting, ACL lodged an official complaint against the Football League over the League One side's 34-mile move to Northampton.
It claimed that the Otium Entertainment Group, who recently took over the Sky Blues from previous owners Sisu whom they have links with, had no right to request the move, as its takeover of City had not been completed.