Sheffield United's former owner, Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, claims the Championship club could be facing a 12-point deduction due to a row over money with the current owners. His company, United World, is attempting to wind up the company that bought the club, alleging that COH Sports Bidco Ltd (CSBL) still owes £35m in missing instalments for the purchase.
Legal Battle Intensifies
Prince Abdullah sold the Blades to Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen for just over £100m in December 2024. A hearing has been set at a London court on Wednesday. United World said in a statement on Monday: "In short, they are trying to take the club without paying for it."
In response, a spokesperson for the ownership group of Eltoukhy and Rosen described the petition as "a publicity stunt" and claimed the club is more "financially healthy" now than under his ownership. They also said they had invited the prince to "reinvest in the club and join the ownership of Sheffield United" again, adding that the co-owners "are focused on the sustainability of the club and the season ahead".
Share Transfer Dispute
The dispute centres around the decision to transfer Sheffield United's shares from previous parent company CSBL to another one called 1919 Partners earlier this summer. Prince Abdullah claims that is an attempt to "avoid paying CSBL's creditors".
United World said in a statement: "If the winding-up petition is granted on 19 August, as we expect, EFL Regulation 2.1.16 provides that Rosen must be disqualified from being a controlling owner and director of SUFC. He will no longer be able to be chairman, or a director, he will no longer be able to exercise any control over the club and will have to sell a significant proportion of his controlling interest in the club."
“In addition, we understand that, once investigations are completed, there is a real prospect that the EFL may have to impose a 12-point deduction on SUFC under EFL Regulation 12.3, in order to 'protect the integrity and continuity of the League Competition' and 'the reputation of The League'."
Expert Opinion and Next Steps
United World have hired leading sports lawyer Nick De Marco and added: “As the former owners of SUFC, United World does not want to see SUFC facing months of uncertainty that will follow the winding-up order being granted on 19 August, but in the absence of Eltoukhy and Rosen, both billionaires, agreeing to pay what they owe, we have no alternative but to take all legal steps to protect our interests."
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I think that (a winding up) is the worse-case scenario. Clearly United World are serious in the sense that they are entitled to be paid and the instalments that were due, there's no justification in those being missed by the new owners of Sheffield United."
"I've seen a lot of winding up orders relating to football clubs over the years. The vast majority are either settled on the court room steps before it goes into court, or the defending team will ask for some sort of postponement. I think it's unlikely that the company will be wound up on Wednesday."
