League Championship side Swansea City's "off-field problems continue to mount," with the club's Supporters Trust in dispute with those who sold their shares during the Swans' American takeover in '16, according to the BBC. At the time of the takeover, the Trust said that it was "disappointed" by a "lack of engagement" over the shares sale, contravening what it said was a shareholders agreement. Since then, Swansea has been "beset with off-field tensions" and, after last season's relegation from the Premier League, a "particularly turbulent" start to this year led to Chair Huw Jenkins' resignation earlier this month. The Trust had arranged for all parties -- including majority shareholders Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien -- to attend mediation to "avoid going to court over the dispute regarding the shares sale," and a date was set for February. Lawyers acting on behalf of the selling shareholders claimed the Trust withdrew from the mediation on two occasions -- but the Trust said that this is "patently untrue." Kaplan and Levien arranged for club Dir Robert Hernreich and Swans Dir of Business & Legal Affairs Samuel Porter to attend the mediation in their absence. The Trust statement said, "Although alternative attendees were suggested, a mediation is much less likely to be productive while the managing partners of the club's owners are not prepared to fully engage" (BBC, 2/13).
