Swansea City Supporters Trust have angrily denied claims they are undermining attempts to reach a settlement in the long running dispute over the sale of the club three years ago.
Lawyers acting for those who sold shares to the club’s American owners have claimed the Trust have twice pulled out of mediation talks.
But the Trust have rebuffed the claims by suggesting the discussions were pointless because owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan were not going to attend.
The Trust have also insisted the selling shareholders have failed to deliver a written response – ordered by the High Court – to the Trust’s seeking of mediation.
Since the sale process began in 2016, the Trust have always maintained they were kept in the dark over details – in contravention to the shareholders’ agreement which existed at the time.
There have been suggestions of legal action against those who sold – including former chairman Huw Jenkins, who resigned last week – but the Trust opted to go down the road of mediation.
Talks penciled in for December and this month have been shelved, however, but the Trust says they pulled out because of Levien and Kaplan’s absence.
Within their statement, the Trust say: “As our members will be aware, the first proposed mediation towards the end of last year was cancelled due to the late decision of Jason Levien not to attend.
“It should also be noted that it became clear in the last week that neither of the managing partners of the majority shareholders, Steve Kaplan or Jason Levien, were planning to attend the proposed February mediation dates either, in spite of the Trust having made it clear that the attendance of one of them was vital if the Trust was to commit to spending thousands of pounds on a mediation.
“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.”
They add: “In terms of next steps, our members will know the Trust is planning a consultation with members next month where our membership would have the chance to vote on the various options available to the Trust. One of these options would be whether to proceed with legal action in relation to the 2016 sale of our football club.
“The Trust has extended the offer to the legal representatives of the majority owners to continue discussions between the two parties with a view to seeking a settlement, which we would then present to our members as an option during the consultation.”
The Trust statement was in response to one issued by the lawyers acting on behalf of the selling shareholders, which read: “We are surprised and extremely disappointed to have received notification from the Swansea Supporters Trust’s lawyers today that neither they nor the Trust wish to attend the mediation which had previously been proposed to take place later this month.
“Dates for the mediation had been agreed with the Trust and we had full authority from all of our clients to attend the mediation and resolve the dispute that exists between the parties.”
