LONDON - A British judge granted an injunction Thursday against the Liverpool owners that could clear the way for the club's sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox.
High Court Judge Christopher Floyd issued an order against the legal action taken in Dallas by American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.
Hicks and Gillett had obtained a temporary restraining order Wednesday blocking the 300-million-pound (C$480.7 million) sale to New England Sports Ventures.
The British judge ordered them to withdraw their action by 4 p.m. London time Friday or be held in contempt of court. Earlier Thursday, Hicks and Gillett asked the Texas court to hold the Liverpool board members in contempt for trying to go through with the sale.
Judge Jim Jordan, a state judge in the 160th District Court in Dallas, declined comment when informed about the injunction in England.
NESV lawyer David Chivers said the sale would go through once the Texas case is withdrawn.
"We are the owners (of Liverpool)," Chivers told the High Court. "The owners from beyond the grave are seeking to exercise with their dead hand a continuing grip on this company."
The British judge said the legal action in Texas amounted to "unconscionable conduct on the part of Mr. Hicks and Mr. Gillett."
"This case has no real connection to Texas," Floyd said.
He criticized Hicks and Gillett for not telling the Texas court that the High Court in London had ruled against them earlier Wednesday in their attempts to block the sale.
"It's a deliberate omission not to mention the fact," Floyd said.
Despite the restraining order issued from Texas, the Liverpool board voted Wednesday for the second time to approve the sale to NESV.
Richard Snowden, a lawyer representing Royal Bank of Scotland -- which controls Liverpool's debts and has been trying to get the sale approved -- told the High Court that the Texas ruling was "inappropriate" and should have no bearing on the case.
"The Texas court seems to have been told remarkably little about the proceedings in this court," Snowden said. "This is the most outrageous abuse of process. ... The proceedings in Texas are plainly inappropriate.
"This dispute concerns an English football club and their English companies. It has nothing to do with Texas other than the fact that Messrs. Hicks and Gillett may reside there."
Hicks and Gillett were not represented at the hearing.
The legal wrangling continued on both sides of the Atlantic as Hicks and Gillett's company filed a motion in Dallas asking that the Royal Bank of Scotland, NESV and Liverpool's independent board members be held in contempt and jailed.
"Further showing their unlawful intentions and brazen disregard for their obligations, defendants have undisputedly -- and, according to their statements, quite proudly -- violated this court's temporary restraining order," the motion said.
Anthony Grabiner, a lawyer representing the Liverpool board at the London hearing, called the Dallas court case "frankly preposterous."
"It reads like a novel," he said. "If it wasn't so serious, it would be a joke. ... It's a grotesque parody of the truth."
Hicks and Gillett turned to the Texas judge Wednesday after Floyd ruled against them in their attempt to block the sale. The duo called the attempted sale an "epic swindle" that undervalues the storied Premier League club and said they were suing for US$1.6 billion in damages. A court hearing in Dallas was set for Oct. 25.
Debts and liabilities resulting from Hicks and Gillett's leveraged purchase of the club three years ago have grown to around 285 million pounds (C$456.6 million), which is owed to RBS and Wells Fargo by Friday.
Two others bids emerged this week -- one from Singapore businessman Peter Lim and another from an American hedge fund Mill Financial. Hicks and Gillett said Wednesday there was also a bid from FBR Capital Markets for between 375 and 400 million pounds (C$600.7 million to $640.8 million).
Lim said Wednesday he will not proceed with his bid because the board is intent on selling to NESV "at the exclusion of all other parties."
Liverpool faces a Friday deadline to repay its debts to RBS. If Liverpool is put into financial administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, the club would be docked nine points by the Premier League. However, it seems unlikely that RBS would take the club into administration at this point.
Liverpool, an 18-time English league champion, is currently mired in the relegation zone after its worst start to a league season since 1953.
