League One side Blackpool was put into receivership so that it can be sold and the proceeds can be used to pay off some of the £22M ($28M) owed by the owners, the Oyston family, to Latvian banker Valeri Belokon, a court has ordered, according to David Conn of the London GUARDIAN. English Football League rules state that if a club suffers "an insolvency event," which includes the appointment of a receiver, it receives a 12-point deduction, but the league "has not yet determined whether that penalty will be imposed in this case." The receivership of the club, an associated company and other assets owned by Owen Oyston and his son, former club Chair Karl, was ordered by the High Court "after it heard the money is still owed to Belokon." The millions are owed by the Oystons to Belokon following a court judgment in '17 that the Oystons "illegitimately stripped" the club of £26.77M in a salary and other payments to their own companies, following Blackpool's '10-11 season in the Premier League (GUARDIAN, 2/13). In London, Jack Gaughan reported a representative for Belokon said, "Mr. Belokon expresses his hope that this will herald a new chapter in the proud history of a prestigious club. The application was a groundbreaking one in the football industry, with the judge confirming that it was in the interests of justice for the appointment to be made" (DAILY MAIL, 2/13). The BBC reported the EFL said in a statement that it will "consider the matter" at its next meeting on March 6. EFL CEO Shaun Harvey said, "We will be seeking an early meeting with the receiver, so as to ensure that the best interests of the club can be jointly considered, against the context of our regulatory framework" (BBC, 2/13).
