A Belgian commercial court ordered the seizure of the accounts, shares and property of American investment fund 777 Partners, company that owns Standard de Liege that does not pay club employees and accumulates 16 complaints for fraud or unpaid debts in the United States for about 350 million dollars.
The Commercial Court of First Instance of Liège will therefore agree to the request of the owners of Sclessin stadium, the company Immobilière du Standard de Liège, whose shareholders include the Atlético de Madrid center back and the Belgian international Axel Witsel, his compatriot in Westerloo Birth of Chadli or the former president of the club, Bruno Venanzi.
Failure to pay for the purchase of the stadium
They ensure that 777 Partners did not pay the second part of the payment for the purchase of the stadium, which is about 3.5 million euros with interest, which fell on April 15 and they asked for guarantees. in the bankruptcy case of Standard Liègea historic Belgian football player going through a very delicate situation.
The judge has frozen all assets and accounts of the club and the real estate company until the litigation is resolved and the embargoes will be returned to anyone responsible.
The reasons for the case
“We hope that this strategy will encourage 777 and/or its crisis manager to respond to our questions and requests, until they are ignored here. If there is no response from you, we will take additional measures to protect our interests and those of Standard de Liège “, the plaintiffs declared in a statement.
They added that their “priority is to ensure the continuity and stability of the Club in the short, medium and long term” and declared themselves “at the disposal of the management of the Club to help them find a solution.”
Concurrent complaint by former owner
Venanzi, former owner of Standard Liege, also showed, in parallel, a complaint to the Belgian Arbitration and Mediation Center (Cepani) because 777 Partners also did not honor the second tranche of payment for the purchase of the club, managed by the Belgian press estimated between 4 and 5 million euros.
That maneuver could give him back control of the club, but the mediation takes an average of a year and then the club could be gone.
Amid the storm, which erupted when 777 Partners’ legal troubles in the United States emerged last weekyesterday it was learned that the club’s CEO, Pierre Locht, had announced his resignation in the US fund in April, although it has not yet been officially accepted.
It all started in 2022, when the investment firm was founded by Steven Pasko and Josh Wander and based in Miami (USA) took over the capital of Standard de Liege.
The company appeared as a lifeline when the club was on the brink of bankruptcy, with promises of restructuring and investments that two years later collapsed and left. the team with the fourth most league titles in Belgium, with ten trophies, on the brink and has debts “between 30 and 60 million euros”, according to the RTBF.
Invest, among others, in Sevilla
The investment fund too owns 12% of the shares of Spanish FC Sevilla acquired in 201870% of the capital of Basque da Gama Brazilian and engaged in Everton English, the Hertha Berlin German, the Genoa Italian or red star French.
Players and club workers have not been paid for several months and the coachIvan Leko, acknowledged that the situation was “dramatic.”
“If I had known all this, I wouldn’t have come. The goal is to play in the playoffs for the title, but now we are fighting to avoid relegation,” the coach added last week.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
