25 apr 2024 om 18:19 Update: 9 min. geleden
Vitesse is one step closer to averting bankruptcy. The court in Gelderland ruled on Thursday that the ailing club has a future, allowing the Arnhem team to reach an arrangement with creditors about the sky-high debt.
Vitesse has appealed to the court on the so-called Homologation of Private Agreement Act (WHOA). This procedure gives companies time to make a payment arrangement with creditors, provided the judge finds that the company in question is viable.
This appears to be the case at Vitesse. For crisis managers Paul van der Kraan and Edwin Reijntjes, this is an important step to prevent bankruptcy of the club from 1892. Vitesse is in financial trouble and is struggling with a debt of more than 15 million euros.
The acute financial problems arose after the intended takeover by Coley Parry of the American investment company The Common Group was rejected in February by the independent licensing committee of the KNVB.
As a result, Parry’s loan to Vitesse was converted into a debt of 14 million euros (including interest) and a hole of several million emerged in the budget. Van der Kraan and Reijntjes want to solve this problem by, among other things, increasing income from sponsorship and the sale of season tickets.
‘This is a necessary decision’
By going to court, Van der Kraan and Reijntjes mainly hope to do something about the debt owed to Parry. It is not known whether the American is willing to talk. If Vitesse goes bankrupt, he will lose all his millions in Vitesse.
In a press statement from Vitesse, Reijntjes speaks of a necessary decision. “The circumstances at Vitesse are worrying,” says the interim director. “Our debt burden put Vitesse’s future under pressure.”
“After all, our current debt burden is enormous, mainly arising from the debt to The Common Group. The WHOA procedure gives the club (financial) peace and therefore the time to work on the continuity of Vitesse, regardless of the vicissitudes surrounding our license .”
In the past, Kitchen Champion Division clubs ADO Den Haag (2022) and VVV-Venlo (2024) have averted bankruptcy thanks to this new law. MVV also recently appealed to this new scheme.
For Vitesse, the rescue operation promises to be a race against time. The club, which has been relegated from the Eredivisie due to an unprecedentedly high points penalty, has until June 15 to submit a balanced budget for next season to the KNVB. Otherwise the club will cease to exist. For the time being, Vitesse is at odds with Parry.
