Monday brought the surprise news that a Court of Appeal judge - Lord Justice Arnold - had granted Lex Dominus (Paul Elliott) permission to appeal the decision made last week by Judge Richard Pearce.
Pearce had refused to grant an injunction which would have prohibited Panorama Magic (Nimer/ Southall) selling East Street Investments to another party, although he did agree to a seven day injunction to allow Lex Dominus to make an appeal to The Court of Appeal
Arnold looked at documentation and said:
“I consider that the appellant (Lex Dominus) has a real prospect of successfully contending that (a) damages will be an adequate remedy for the respondent (Panorama Magic) alternatively (b) the balance of the risk of injustice favours the grant of an injunction, in particular since refusal of an injunction appears likely to result in the appellant’s claim being rendered nugatory.
“I am not convinced that the EFL deadline of 12 September is necessarily as significant as the respondent contends: the deadline may in fact prove to be extendable and/or the respondent may be able to provide the necessary evidence and/or the EFL may accept contingent evidence from the respondent’s intended purchaser and/or any sanction imposed by EFL may be revocable or not be as severe as the respondent fears.
“The respondent must not until the determination of the appeal sell, transfer, charge, dispose of or otherwise deal with any of the shares in East Street Investments Ltd whether currently registered in its name or in the name of Matthew Southall or any other party.”
The appeal will be heard on Thursday September 17th (further details to follow) and the injunction was extended until then. If Lex Dominus win the appeal then the injunction will apply until the matter is settled in a full court case which has been scheduled for late November.
Thomas Sandgaard remained publicly upbeat. He told The South London Press after the news of the appeal being granted that he was "100 per cent confident" on doing a deal and that "this is going exactly to plan". He added:
“There is no reason for the fans to worry – which is probably the most important thing. All the uncertainty and worrying – there is no reason to worry.
“For the West Ham game [next Tuesday in the EFL Cup] we might be able to have a team that can really give them a run for it.”
Rumours have been circulating all week that Sandgaard might have found a way to acquire the club directly from Roland Duchatelet, but Sandgaard would not comment on that. There has been a flurry of excitement on social media that a deal might be announced within the next few days and although we would be delighted to be proved wrong, CAST remains cautious.
There is positive news in the fact that Thomas Sandgaard confirmed this week that he has demonstrated proof of funds to the EFL. "All expenses for the next 12 months have been deposited into an escrow account with my attorneys in London. We will get this done"
He also visited the training ground and dropped into The Rose of Denmark on Wednesday for a drink and to meet some supporters:
We would like to state categorically at this point that there is no truth whatsoever in the rumour that Roland Duchatelet was spotted sipping a tomato juice in a shady corner of The Bugle Horn the following evening.
The EFL remain silent on Sandgaard's application and on the appeals of Chris Farnell and Paul Elliott concerning the Owners & Directors' Test. CAST are finally set to meet with EFL representatives next week - a meeting requested since mid-March.
We approached the club on Thursday for any further news about whether it will be possible to admit spectators to the fixture with Doncaster on 19th September and, if so, how the club will prioritise who is admitted. We haven't had a response yet but it is looking increasingly doubtful. Cambridge United announced yesterday that their fixture against Carlisle which had been due to host a 2500 crowd will now be behind closed doors.
Lee Bowyer provided an update on the situation from his point of view:
Over 1500 Charlton supporters have joined CAST in the last four months - no doubt motivated by the parlous state of affairs at our club. This has pushed our total membership to nearly 2750 making us one of the largest supporters' trusts in the country. That's also over 10% of a full Valley. Together we are stronger. You can join here for just £5 adult, free for U16s:
https://www.castrust.org/join/
If you are concerned about the future of our club sign up to the OUR CLUB campaign here. At the moment, we aren't asking for money, just your details, though we may need to fund-raise soon:
https://www.castrust.org/2020/05/sign-up-if-you-love-charlton/