On Friday the EFL announced that Birmingham City had entered into an Agreed Decision with regards to the investigation into breaches of the Owners and Directors Test (OADT) during the attempted Maxco takeover. The club have been issued with a two point deduction, suspended until the end of the 2023/24 season.
It’s safe to say that while on the pitch the season is coming to an anticlimactic end for Blues, off it appears to be a very different story. It hasn’t taken long for the rumours to fly on social media of just which investors might be behind potential new owners Often Partisan Limited.
It was reported on Wednesday that Paul Richardson, Maxi Lopez and Matt Southall have all accepted sanctions from the EFL following charges relating to the failed Maxco takeover. While there hasn’t been any official confirmation yet, the reports have stated all three have accepted suspended bans from involvements with EFL clubs.
It’s been two months since news broke of the Often Partisan Limited bid to take over Birmingham City with very little updates on progress. Although the radio silence has been understandable after the Maxco fiasco earlier in the season, the longer it has gone on the more nerves are starting to show among Blues fans.
With news breaking of a new takeover bid at Birmingham City, there have been questions from fans arising from the ongoing EFL investigation into Wang Yaohui (aka the elusive Mr King), and the issues it may cause a potential takeover.
With Jude Bellingham once again turning it on for England in the round of 16 World Cup match against Senegal, it’s somewhat deflating to turn attention back to the never-ending saga that is Birmingham City’s ownership travails.
News broke on Friday afternoon that 136 days after holding a conference on the Kop Car Park to tell fans the deal was done, Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez have pulled out from their attempt to buy Birmingham City.
It wasn’t exactly a full chamber when Shabana Mahmood MP talked about the travails surrounding the ownership of Birmingham City in the House of Commons on Monday night, but hopefully it will be another step on the journey to better regulation in football.
It’s been almost a week now since Laurence Bassini went on TalkSPORT to talk about buying Birmingham City, and I think I’ve only just caught my breath from it. I’ve said all along that Bassini is a fantasist who shouldn’t be entertained when it comes to buying a football club, but even I didn’t expect him to blow up so spectacularly live on national radio.
It’s now been over eight weeks since Blues fans were told in a Birmingham Mail / Mirror report that the takeover was “close”. Despite being told in an announcement to the HKSE three weeks ago that Vong Pech had agreed to sell his share and a “deadline” being given by Bassini of June 30, as Blues fans we still await any official confirmation that any deal has been done.
