Sports Direct set to reject King’s £5m repayment offer

Sevco face another week in crisis with Sports Direct expected to reject the conditions attached to the repayment of their £5m crisis loan.

Five months after 53.64% of shareholders voted not to repay the loan Dave King claimed on Friday that the company had decided that it was the right thing to do due to a change in circumstances.

While the shareholders stood to applaud the decision that they had recently rejected no announcement has been made on the club website which has still to reveal the results of the resolutions put before the people.

On his way to Glasgow Airport, passing up the opportunity to watch Mark Warburton’s stormtroopers reach the final of the Petrofac Training Cup, Mr King was interviewed by STV and Sky Sports.

With no detail of the £5m payment being published it is believed to be dependent on Sports Direct dropping all legal action being taken against Mr King, the company and the SFA.

King, who was recently described as a glib and shameless liar by a South African judge, is due to appear in court in London on December 9 charged with breaching an injunction preventing him from discussing details of the Rangers Retail deal with Sports Direct.

Further cases will be held in Scotland into the SFA’s decision to allow Mr King to become a director of a football club with big Mike also challenging the decision to fine him £1,000 for a breach of the Five Way Agreement which allowed him a 10% stake in the club formed in 2012.

Looking shifty and uncomfortable in front of the cameras the South African based criminal told STV: “We felt it was the right thing to do at this moment in time. We’re not in a position to speak about Sports Direct but I just felt it was the right thing to do.

“It was a change of heart and I think what was really, really exciting from my point of view was the speed with which we marshalled the resources.

“We made the decision with the board last night, subject to me getting the money required and within an hour this morning I phoned the guys and the £5m was available. That was exciting to show the level of commitment everyone has got for the club.

“We’ll make the money available immediately and then it’s a question of the legal transfer. There’s obviously securities and so we pay the money and they release the securities, that’s the legal process. The main thing is that we say to them the money is there, it’s in the bank and just for the lawyers to sort out.”

With the conditions that Mr King has attached it’s highly unlikely that the lawyers will ‘sort it out’.

Asked to explain the u-turn over repaying the £5m loan King added: “As opposed to when? Previously I had no intention. I just think the circumstances have changed and I think it’s right to do it now. I can’t comment because of the injunction as to why I’ve done it but I think it’s the right time.”

After Friday’s fanfare and high-fiving it looks like business as usual as the details slowly emerge. Newly appointed director Douglas Park was not on the stage at the AGM and has still to confirm that he agreed to contribute to the £5m fund after the Friday morning conference call.

Long term blazer chaser Paul Murray hasn’t commented on his first ever investment in the club.

Despite the wishful thinking from a number of ‘informed sources’ there has been no comment from BDO ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to submit an appeal against Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs winning the Big Tax Case against Rangers (IL).

Keep upto date with the ongoing debate on Scottish Football Monitor.