The rollercoaster world of Charlton Athletic took another twist earlier in the week when the EFL launched‎ an investigation into the takeover of the club by ESI in January.

Tahnoon Nimer has yet to produce satisfactory evidence of sustainable funding. The investigation prompted this response from recently appointed director, Marian Mihail:
Dear Charlton fans,

I am writing to you as you will have seen the news that the takeover of the club, by East Street Investments, is being investigated by the EFL. As Tahnoon Nimer stated earlier this week, we are cooperating fully with the EFL and yesterday afternoon met with the league via video call.

While obviously this investigation is far from ideal for the football club, we are at least pleased that it will shed some light on the behaviour and intentions of various individuals around the process of the takeover and the months following.

At this stage we don’t know how long the EFL’s investigation will take. I understand it is a difficult and uncertain time for everyone connected with Charlton Athletic and we are working day and night to get the club through this. 

We will continue to keep the fans updated with what is going on and will continue to work with Charlton Athletic Supporters Trust to answer your questions. 

Yours sincerely,

Marian MihailThe response could have been anticipated, but nagging doubts remain about Nimer. He has publicly stated that he was injecting funds into the club on several occasions, but thus far nothing has materialised.
Nimer and former chairman, Matt Southall, appeared on Jim White’s show on talkSPORT on Tuesday.
Forthright former Crystal Palace owner, Simon Jordan,  clearly saw Southall as the problem, and had this to say:
“I look at this (the situation at Charlton) and go: ‘I don’t like what’s coming out of this chairman’s mouth’,”.

“Whether he is a paid employee of Charlton Athletic or whether he is a controlling influence, the finances behind the acquisition of Charlton are with the majority shareholder (Nimer) I suspect.

“The idea that this guy has not put any money in, if this club has been bought from Roland Duchatelet for the best part of £50million someone has written cheques out and I’m willing to wager it isn’t Matt Southall.

“I don’t want to steer into the narrative of my predilection to dislike football agents, but that’s his background and most football agents get in between the wall and the wallpaper and certainly don’t get their hands anywhere near their pockets.

“The idea this has been washed out in the public domain and some of the internal wrangles that are clearly a difference of opinion, clearly a difference of outlook, clearly a difference of positioning.“Nimer has a background, a significant background, and understands the sporting environment. If you look at his resume, this is not a fool. This is not somebody who doesn’t understand the value and meaning of money.

“This resignation from a director’s position is incidental. If he is the majority shareholder, he is the controlling influence behind this business. 

“This chairman is employed by this football club, and will be drawing a salary from this club and I suspect, despite the fact that he might have some validity in some of his points of view, I’m not entirely sure some of the things he’s saying he should be saying, and are in the wellbeing of the club going forward.

“The idea that this guy (Nimer) hasn’t proof of his source of income is different from saying he doesn’t have the money in the first place. 

“Steve Dale at Bury, which is the red light, didn’t prove up his income and subsequently took them into oblivion.

“This guy has written cheques out, from what I can gather, to buy a football club for £50million, so clearly he’s got the means. 

“Dale at Bury didn’t have any means, he just assumed debt and ran Bury to the ground because he didn’t want to put his hand anywhere near his pocket.

“The dynamics of what’s going on here concerns me because I don’t like the narrative, I don’t like what’s being said.

“If you don’t like what someone is doing at a football club you’re well within your right as a majority shareholder to turn around and say ‘I don’t like what you’re doing, I don’t like what you’re saying, I don’t like what you represent’.

“That’s not defamation, that’s called opinion. And, there are a lot of inconsistencies with what Southall has said.”‎The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect on every day life. Nobody knows what the future holds, and whether life ever returns to the way it was looks doubtful, certainly for some considerable time.
The government’s chief medical adviser, Chris Whitty, has indicated that social distancing needs to be in place for the rest of the year at least.
That would seem to make playing football in front of spectators impossible.
The National League has now called a halt to this season, and it is difficult to see how the EFL or Premier League can resume. 
Whether the authorities come up with some way to decide promotion or relegation, or just annul the season, is something they have to decide.
What format next season takes is anybody’s guess, but playing behind closed doors seems the only option for the foreseeable future.
Football has been the raison d’etre for so many of us for so long and it will never be the same again.
Right now, the future of the game is uncertain, with Charlton looking particularly vulnerable.