The Times:
Ken Bates believes that Leeds United stand on the brink of oblivion after Revenue & Customs launched a legal challenge to the chairman's controversial buy-back deal for the club. The case could be heading for the High Court, although Bates, who placed the club in administration on May 4, with relegation to Coca-Cola League One all but certain, before promptly forming a new company to buy it back, had given warning that any appeal would send the club into liquidation and out of business.
Although creditors narrowly accepted Bates's initial offer of one pence in the pound last month, Revenue & Customs, which is owed £7.7 million in unpaid taxes, took up the option of appealing on the last of the 28 days available. Conscious that a challenge was looming, Bates had increased his offer to eight pence in the pound on Monday night and indicated that a refusal to accept would mark the end for a club that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001.
A spokesman for KPMG, the club's administrator, said: "We are reviewing the notification of appeal and considering our response. Leeds United is not in liquidation and the status quo remains. We are in control of the company because the CVA [Company Voluntary Agreement] has been considered and approved." The Football League is set to meet KPMG today in an attempt to help to resolve the issue.
As the deadline approached yesterday, Bates said: "If there is a legal challenge, it could take two or three months to get to court and be decided. In the meantime, who is going to pay to run the club? So far it's been funded by the 'new Leeds', but if there is a challenge, the 'new Leeds' won't do it because it's a risk. The implications are that the club would close down."
The club was last night insisting that Bates would not be commenting further. A statement read: "The club can confirm that the Inland Revenue have served notice of their intentions to challenge the CVA. We do not have all the details as yet and do have a number of options available to us. We remain confident of a positive outcome despite this disappointing news and will carry on with business as usual in the meantime."
However, even if the case does not end up in the High Court, the protracted action could prevent Leeds from gearing up for next season and undermine hopes of mounting a promotion challenge. "We're quite concerned with these developments," Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, said. He expressed "sympathy for Leeds fans and for players in limbo, as well".