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Aston Villa take action seeking bigger Covid losses payout

Villa are among a group of Premier League clubs taking legal action against insurers for almost £100million over losses suffered during the Covid pandemic.

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Clubs up and down the country had to play behind closed doors

Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Brighton, West Ham and Crystal Palace are demanding bigger payouts under insurance policies over the impact of suspended games and matches played behind closed doors when the pandemic struck.

Leicester City, who were relegated last year, are also taking part in the High Court action.

Insurers are opposing the bids for larger payouts having already paid out £2.5m to each club, a judge was told.

The legal action has been brought against insurers Allianz, Aviva, CNA, Liberty Mutual, MS Amlin and Zurich. A brief preliminary hearing before Mr Justice Jacobs was held in London yesterday, ahead of a trial at a later date.

Andrew Green KC, representing the clubs, said in written arguments they had “suffered significant losses caused by interruption or interference to their businesses as a result of decisions taken by the football authorities and government in response to Covid-19 in the UK”.