Vitesse awaits a crucial weekend with a view to whether or not they will regain their professional license. The troubled Arnhemmers submitted a plan on Friday that should lead to the return of the recently withdrawn professional license by the license committee on Monday. If the verdict is negative, it will most likely be the end of the story, as outlined by The Telegraph the situation.

Things seemed to be looking up for Vitesse recently, when intended new owner Guus Franke made a deal with Coley Parry about the transfer of shares. However, the KNVB refused to approve Franke as the new owner of Vitesse in a short period of time, to the anger of Franke.

“The request to postpone this is effectively a death sentence,” Franke was quoted as saying by The Gelderlander. The association's appeals committee now intends to make a final ruling on Monday, July 22, on a license for Vitesse. According to Franke, the approval of the share transfer could take months. “And we don't have that time.”

Franke threatened to withdraw from the takeover process, which would mean a hole in the budget for Vitesse and subsequently a minimal chance of getting the licensing process back. On top of that, Follow The Money and Omroep Gelderland reported that Franke has bankruptcies, unpaid loans, unpaid bills and falsified bank statements on his record. Vitesse nevertheless wants to do business with Franke.

“However, Franke would then not have to provide a guarantee in advance of approval by the licensing committee,” he describes. The Telegraph the situation. Vitesse then switched to an emergency plan with a downwardly adjusted budget and the use of funds as a guarantee. These funds were promised via STAK (Sterkhouders Vitesse Arnhem) and would involve an amount of 2.5 million euros.

Emergency plan

Business club members and other Arnhem businessmen support the club via certificates, in exchange for twenty percent of the shares. Because Franke is not yet the new owner of Vitesse, his deal with Parry is not yet in effect. What the deal between the two exactly entails is still unknown, although it is expected that the American has received commitments about future participation in the sale of the shares. With that, he would still be financially compensated.

Vitesse has submitted a request to Parry to suspend payments of interest and principal on his claim for a year. Until Thursday evening, the American was not prepared to do so, while this is a crucial condition for the emergency plan to succeed. Payments for interest and principal to Parry are not included in the emergency plan. Franke and Parry must therefore try to find a solution.

If the licensing committee does not give the green light on Monday, Vitesse can go to the civil court. The chance of success will be very small, however, because the civil court will mainly look at whether the licensing committee and appeals committee have made no procedural errors and have implemented the KNVB licensing rules correctly.

Given that the licensing committee has already shown a lot of leniency with Vitesse, the chance of rescue seems very small. “So a lot depends on the decision of the appeal committee”, according to The Telegraph.

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