Charlton Athletic have released a club statement on their official website confirming that Jonathan Heller and Matt Southall have been removed from the board of directors.

Their replacements are two individuals by the names of Claudiu Florica and Marian Mihail, who the club state were appointed on Thursday afternoon.

“I am pleased to be able to appoint Claudiu and Marian to the Board so that Charlton can move forward," majority shareholder Tahnoon Nimer said.

“It has been a difficult few weeks for everyone involved at the football club and this is a positive step in the right direction."

“Our priority now is stabilising the short-term future of the football club in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis and working with the EFL to get the club’s transfer embargo lifted to demonstrate our long-term commitment to Charlton Athletic.”

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It has also been confirmed that the new members of the board will meet with the club's heads of department during the course of today.

This news follows on from a statement that Matt Southall released on Thursday on his Twitter account, which shared details of a board meeting that took place between himself and Nimer, with Florica and Mihail also likely to have been in attendance.

In it, Southall claimed that Nimer was acting "unlawfully" by appointing the pair, and also insisted that he was not stepping down from his role as executive chairman at the football club in the short-term.

However, this club statement rebukes that information, and it now looks likely that Southall could take legal action against Nimer.

At this stage, not much is known about either Florica or Mihail's background and relationship with Nimer, although the majority shareholder is keen to install the former as CEO.

The Verdict

Although official communication has now been released on the club's website confirming the removals of Heller and Southall from the board of directors, the latter claimed that they were still a part of Charlton Athletic, which leads us to believe this saga is far from over.

That makes it all the more likely that Southall's representatives will take legal action against Nimer for his alleged dismissal, also considering that he was also a shareholder in East Street Investments.

It is now also likely that Florica and Mihail will have to undergo the mandatory EFL owners and directors test before being approved. As for the future of the club, despite this announcement, things continue to be up in the air.