SWINDON Town Football Club appears to be blaming Clem Morfuni's Axis group for problems relating to the transfer of the club's ownership.

This comes days after a High Court judge told Lee Power he must offer to sell all 85 shares in Swinton Reds to Clem Morfuni’s Axis.

Due to the pre-emption process that remains in place, Mr Power is not entitled to sell STFC to his preferred option of AC Sports - otherwise known as Able - without first offering it for sale to Axis because Axis is a minority shareholder in Swinton Reds, a company which indirectly owns the club.

He must accept the £212,500 sale price initially marked out via the shareholder’s agreement and not the £250,000 that he originally wanted.

On Friday, a spokesman for the STFC Supporters Trust suggested that Axis was trying to complete the purchase of the club as smoothly as possible.

The spokesman said: "The trust has seen comments and rumours online that Axis and Clem Morfuni don’t have the funds to buy the shares for the purchase of STFC.

"However, the trust can confirm that Axis has the money for the purchase and is trying to take the proper steps to acquire the shares.

"If it needs to, it will return to court for this purpose next week to conclude matters."

But a statement from the club itself, which was released online minutes before the England game began on Saturday night, suggested that a lack of action from Axis was stopping the sale from progressing.

A Swindon Town spokesman said: "In response to local and social media reports, Swindon Town Football Club wish to state the following. 

"Chairman Lee Power's lawyers on Thursday June 24 2021 wrote to Axis/Clem Morfuni's lawyers to confirm he would transfer his shareholding in Swinton Reds 20 Ltd to Axis on the receipt of funds to purchase the shares in accordance with the transfer notice contained in the judgement of Judge Thompsell.

"For clarity, no payment has been forthcoming from Axis as of July 3 2021.

"This has caused a number of issues regarding the running of the club and also the club being in a position to make a number of important decisions.

"The club also notes that the supporters trust have stated that they have spoken to the lawyers of Axis, who have confirmed to them the takeover will take a further few weeks.

"The club is unsure of the reasons behind why Axis are delaying this straightforward process."