Sheffield United could be handed a significant points penalty after COH Sports Bidco Limited (CSBL), the company used to complete the takeover of the Championship club, was ordered into liquidation by the High Court on Wednesday.
CSBL agreed in December 2024 to buy Sheffield United for just over £100m, but roughly £35m of that fee remained unpaid. United World, the club's former owners, filed a winding-up petition against CSBL last month after the debt went unresolved. Neither Steven Rosen nor Helmy Eltoukhy, the co-chairmen who ran CSBL, attended the brief High Court hearing, which lasted only around ten seconds.
In a statement, United World said it had made "every effort to resolve this matter amicably" but had "received no response" from the current ownership. Sheffield United responded by describing the case as a dispute between the club's current and former owners, insisting that "the day-to-day operations at Sheffield United are unaffected" and confirming the club remains in contact with the English Football League.
The situation is complicated by a corporate restructuring that took place in June, when shares in the club were transferred from CSBL to a newly formed American company, 1919 Partners LLC, which now serves as Sheffield United's parent company. Timothy Ryan joined the club's board around the same time. As a result, CSBL no longer holds any operational control over the Blades, even though it remains linked to the ownership group through Rosen and Eltoukhy.
Because the liquidated entity is a separate company rather than the football club itself, there is no automatic sanction under EFL rules. However, the league confirmed it would examine the implications of CSBL's collapse,