City Not Paying Ricoh Rent Again

Last updated : 03 May 2012 By Covsupport News Service

Coventry City have withheld their rent to the Ricoh Arena for a second month.

City, who has been forced to survive on limited income streams since moving to the Ricoh Arena in 2005, are again struggling to pay the £1.2m rent which returned to that figure after the club had it dropped for a year to £500k as part of "Operation Premiership" under Paul Fletcher and are looking for ways to get it reduced following relegation.

By with-holdng rent, City are in breach of their contract with ACL but Tim Fisher told the CT's Martin Bagot: “If this is what it takes to focus people’s minds to ensure that the football club and the Ricoh Arena both move to a mutually beneficial position – then I will do it.

“Going down to League One will mean the revenue will crash down. Suddenly the rent becomes a big number.

“This isn’t a case of us saying ‘we’re not paying it’.

"There has to be detailed discussions about what access to revenues the club should have and whether it’s achievable without breaking the ACL model.

“These discussions are much more than about the rent. "It’s about having a sustainable operating model.

"We have to be incredibly empathetic to ACL. You can’t just take away £1.2 million and not expect it to have an impact. “But at the moment this football club doesn’t have a sustainable operating model.

“We’re not hitting each other over the head with mallets. "We’re looking for a model of mutual benefit – not mutual destruction.”

Discussions concerning the rent are continuing.

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