The Coventry Telegraph are reporting that Coventry City's owners SISU have had their first appeal against the recent judicial review ruling rejected.

Coventry City are potentially a step closer to the Ricoh Arena today.
Coventry City are potentially a step closer to the Ricoh Arena today.

At the end of June a High Court judge ruled that SISU had no case in their claim that the Coventry City Council's loan to the Ricoh Arena management company Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL) was a mis-use of state money. However Coventry City chief executive Tim Fisher stated afterwards that 'the High Court judge was wrong'.

The latest revelation is another event in a long-running dispute between Coventry City's owners SISU and ACL. It began in March 2012 when Coventry City stopped paying rent for the Ricoh Arena as they believed it was far above market value. The dispute has since involved two 10-point deductions for Coventry City, a move to Northampton and the recent judicial review.

Coventry City fans are hoping that since the appeal has been rejected, a return to the Ricoh Arena can be negotiated. The club are meeting with ACL as well as the Football League on August 7th, two days before the start of the season, to decide how much the club owes the company in back-rent.

ACL have recently stated that they will not return to the negotiating table unless SISU drop the appeal and pay the money owed. Coventry City's owners recently wrote to fans stating that they wanted access to match-day revenues as part of the deal to return to the Ricoh Arena.

It is not known whether SISU will persist with their appeal but should they not, it would be one step closer to a return to Coventry for the Sky Blues.