Former Crystal Palace owner John Textor scores temporary block of Brazilian football club share sale

Former Crystal Palace owner John Textor has been granted a temporary injunction by the High Court to prevent administrators from selling his 90% stake in Brazilian football club SAF Botafogo. The orders follows Textor's multiple parallel lawsuits in England, the US, and Brazil to regain control of his shares after Eagle Football Holdings Bidco, his UK holding company, was taken over by administrators in March due to insolvency.

The insolvent holding company is now controlled by London-based insolvency firm Cork Gully, who began searching for buyers for the Botafogo shares in March. However, the High Court granted Textor an injunction to block the administrators from selling the shares until at least September 9, when the case will be heard again. The Brazilian court previously rejected Textor's request for an injunction, but Judge Mark Pelling KC stated that the situation is now different in the UK as administrators had withdrawn their formal undertaking agreement not to sell the shares.

Textor claims that Bidco breached its contract by not paying him for the shares after the insolvency, and he was removed from SAF Botafogo's leadership board in April by a Brazilian Arbitration court. The administrators, Eagle Football Holdings Bidco, have not participated in any of the English legal proceedings, only sending a letter to the court claiming the injunction would not risk a breach of any potential sale contracts.

Textor stated that if Eagle Football Holdings Bidco continues to not participate in legal proceedings, his claims of ownership will prevail, and he will be reestablished as the owner of SAF Botafogo.