LIVINGSTON are today facing the potential threat of administration for the second time in the club's 14-year history if chairman Angelo Massone fails to pay a £10,000 rent payment to West Lothian council.
Council leader Peter Johnston is thought to have lost all patience with the Italian and is planning to initiate legal proceedings in a bid to recoup outstanding debts, which could ultimately lead to administrators being called in.
Johnston is rea
dy to take a firm stance after seeing Livingston have their electricity supply cut off on Thursday by Scottish Power due to an unpaid bill of £32,000.
West Lothian council are due a total of £280,000 in rent arrears although Massone has until 30 June to settle up. The £10,000 payment is part of a debt-reduction agreement that was set up in January.
Massone, who had been hoping to free up cash with the sale of prized-asset Leigh Griffiths to Dundee, is currently back in his homeland and is not expected to return until Wednesday.
Speaking at the weekend, Massone said: "I won't pay. The agreement that we have is that we pay in full by 30 June.
"The legal action by the council surprises me. This is nonsense. It is a joke. It is strange that they are looking for £10,000 and that they would start legal proceedings for that and not that £280,000 that we owe."
The controversial owner revealed on the club's website on Saturday that he had held talks with former Dumbarton chairman Neil Rankine about a partnership although these discussions are believed to be in their infancy.
Livingston's financial plight has deteriorated to a stage where sources close to the club feel going into administration – as they previously did in February 2004 – may be the best way forward, with supporters united in calling for Massone to step down.
The full article contains 321 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
