Former Vancouver FC coach Afshin Ghotbi is suing the team owners, Six-Five Sports & Entertainment LP, saying he loaned the Langley-based Canadian Premier League (CPL) team $500,000 and they have not repaid him.
In a Dec. 4 statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Ghotbi says he made the loan in July of 2023 after Rob Friend, described as “one of Six-Five’s directors, the President and CEO of Vancouver FC and a friend of Mr. Ghotbi,” informed him Vancouver FC was “experiencing cash-flow challenges.”
According to the court document, the agreement negotiated with Dean Shillington, managing director of the LP, promised the loan would be repaid by July of 2024, with 12 per cent interest.
But when that date arrived, Ghotbi alleged he was told the team “needed the funds” when he asked for his money.
He said the agreement was extended, with a higher interest rate of 20 per cent and the understanding that it would be repaid on demand “as soon as Mr. Ghotbi needed the funds.”
When Ghotbi and the team parted ways in July of 2025, the now-former coach “pressed for repayment” and was refused.
“Mr. Shillington, for the first time, informed him [Ghotbi] that his security interest was actually subordinate to other secured creditors.”
When Ghotbi made a formal demand for repayment, he said Shillington told him Six-Five could not repay the money, “was actively pursuing the sale of one of its primary assets” (an apparent reference to the announcement that Six-Five was looking to sell Pacific FC in Langford) and “was subject to multiple senior secured charges” that had priority.
“Mr. Shillington knew or reasonably ought to have known that Six-Five and the LP had no ability or intention to repay Mr. Ghotbi,” the claim states.
It says the team owners were “unjustly enriched” by the loan and demands repayment of the $500,000 plus more than $200,000 in accrued interest, as well as damages for breach of contract, damages for misrepresentation, general and special damages, and punitive and aggravated damages.
Allegations in the court filing have not been tested in court and the defendants have not yet filed a response.
Langley Advance Times has reached out to Vancouver FC and Six-Five Sports & Entertainment LP for comment.
After Six-Five announced it was exploring the sale of its Pacific FC team, the City of Langford issued a press release declaring the team owners had run up more than $800,000 in combined debts that included unpaid rent, stadium rental fees, food and beverages and the Indoor Training Centre.