Coventry City were today given fresh hope of finally owning the Coventry Building Society Arena as Wasps could be forced to give up the stadium should their financial problems escalate, according to reports from BBC CWR.
The current situation
Coventry City Council today confirmed that there is the possibility of Wasps being forced to give up their lease on the arena should the rugby union club "enter into some kind of insolvency regime."
"It is true the lease may give rise to a right to forfeit if the tenant enters into some kind of insolvency regime but there are restrictions on that", a statement from the Council read.
"We continue to monitor the situation and will act in the best interests of Coventry City Council and the arena asset.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and we are engaging with advisors and some potentially interested parties if requested as part of the process, in line with our role and responsibilities as freeholder of the asset."
Wasps originally filed their notice of intent to appoint administrators on September 21 and have desperately been looking to attract new investment to keep the club afloat since.
In order to buy themselves more time, they filed a second notice of intent to appoint administrators on October 5, allowing them 10 more days to seek investment in order to pay off creditors - including a £2 million tax bill owed to HMRC, according to CoventryLive.
What does this mean for Coventry City?
Coventry have had a turbulent relationship with the previously named Ricoh Arena ever since moving from Highfield Road in 2005.
It had to lease the stadium from then-owners Coventry City Council, due to the club experiencing issues financing the stadium's construction.
Then in 2013, the club entered a rent dispute with the Council which saw the Sky Blues play their games in Northampton and enter administration.
It was not long after the club's return to the stadium that controversy struck again.
The Council sold the leasehold of the stadium to the then-named rugby club London Wasps, which saw the start of a lengthy legal dispute with the Council and City's eventual second exile to Birmingham City's St. Andrew's Stadium.
The Sky Blues returned to the Arena for a second time in August 2021 under what seemed to be much calmer circumstances but this news of Wasps' financial woes has provided yet more uncertainty.
Although, this time it is uncertainty which could favour the Sky Blues, as opposed to working against them.
Should Wasps enter insolvency and the leasehold be seized by the Council, City could work to take over the leasehold, whether under current owners Sisu or with new investors.
Back in August, The Times reported that Sisu were looking at a potential sale of the club, amidst rumours of Wasps financial distress.
It was reported that the hedge fund, who bought Coventry back in 2007, were considering an opportunity to capitalise on Wasps' hardship, as they believed that it would make the Sky Blues a more attractive proposition if the Arena was a distressed asset that potential investors could snap up in a cut price deal.