Coventry City has been served an eviction notice by the new owners of the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group took over the stadium last month after buying its three former operating companies.
They say the Championship club no longer have the right to use the ground.
Club officials were told on Friday they had to return keys and access cards and an FA Youth Cup match on Saturday was moved to Leamington Town FC.
Frasers does not believe he is bound by the previous licensing agreement with the stadium’s former owners, rugby club Wasps, which takes office on October 18.
Coventry are away at Reading when their league campaign resumes on Saturday and their next scheduled home game is against Swansea on December 17.
The Frasers, however, said they would have a reasonable amount of time to remove goods and property from the stadium.
The Sky Blues moved to the Ricoh Arena from their former Highfield Road home in 2005.
But a dispute with their owners saw them decamp to Sixfields ground in Northampton Town for home games in 2013-14.
Wasps bought Coventry City Council’s 50% stake in the stadium in October 2014 and the following month acquired the remaining stake from the Alan Edward Higgs Charitywith the Sky Blues returning as tenants.
But rent issues saw Coventry move to St Andrew’s Stadium from Birmingham City in 2019, spending two seasons there and winning promotion from League One in the process.
They finally returned home for the start of the 2021-22 season but there were further problems at the start of the current campaign due to the ground conditions after being used for rugby sevens matches during the Commonwealth Games.
Following the demise of Wasps, CBS Arena’s operating companies, Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL), Arena Coventry (2006) Ltd and IEC Experience Ltd, were also placed into administration, allowing Frasers Group to buy them for £17m.
A judge has rejected a £25million bid for the stadium from businessman Doug King, saying it was too late, but he is moving ahead with a plan to buy an 85% majority stake in the club from current owners Sisu, subject to English Football League approval.
But even that is not straightforward, with the sale being contested by rival bidder William Storey, who says the deal violates an exclusivity agreement he had with Sisu, although they insist his claim is “false and unnecessary”.
The BBC has contacted Coventry and the EFL for comment.
‘Nightmare Before Christmas’
Analysis – Simon Gilbert, BBC CWR Political Editor
This is truly turning into a pre-Christmas nightmare for Coventry City fans.
When the new owners of the football club and stadium were confirmed last month, many hoped it would be the end of nearly two decades of drama off the pitch.
Those hopes seem to have been dashed in just a few weeks.
The grounds for the eviction notice are not yet clear. But what we do know is that the hope of the Sky Blues returning to the scene isn’t entirely lost yet.
Coventry City’s next scheduled home game isn’t for 12 days – and that’s a long time in a saga where we’ve seen new club and stadium owners appointed in just 24 hours.
Officials will be working around the clock to try and find a solution and bring Sky Blues fans some much needed festive cheer.
