Giving Orient fans a voice
Leyton Orient Fans' Trust
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Hoping for the best, planning for the worst
6/12/2015

It would have been inconceivable this time last year that a dispute between the country of Albania and an Italian businessman could possibly affect Leyton Orient Football Club.
 
Even so, that is the situation being faced now, with the news that Albanian authorities have issued arrest warrants for O’s chairman Francesco Becchetti and others, and frozen his Albanian assets.
 
The club statement issued on the Orient website makes no mention of the club whatsoever, so supporters are once again left in the dark as to what the club’s medium or long term prospects are. While the Football League’s Owners and Directors Test would only come into play in the event that Becchetti were to be convicted, questions nonetheless have to be asked about any possible financial impact these developments may have on the club.
 
Meanwhile, changes made a week ago to the Football League’s rules mean that if the club did suffer an ‘insolvency event’ (such as administration), the Administrator would have to meet with LOFT within 21 days and provide it with the opportunity to bid for the club. While we obviously hope for the best and do not want Leyton Orient to be an early test for those new rules, nonetheless LOFT has to continue to plan as we have done in recent months for what role LOFT could play in the event of a change of club ownership (whether through the club being sold or via administration).
 
If the club’s ownership situation changes, LOFT’s role could be anything from applying pressure for supporter involvement/consultation up to and including full supporter ownership. LOFT has been consulting regularly with Supporters Direct, who are now well-versed in supporter intervention at crisis clubs, and we will continue to liaise with both them and the football authorities on planning for potential scenarios.
 
We are arranging a members’ meeting to be held in due course, to update members and discuss concerns about the club’s future and what would happen in such a ‘disaster recovery’ situation.




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