Afshin Ghotbi, former head coach of Vancouver FC, is suing the club's owners, Six-Five Sports & Entertainment, for allegedly failing to repay a $500,000 loan plus interest.

The Notice of Civil Claim was filed on December 4, 2025, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

GHOTBI'S CLAIM

In July 2023, Rob Friend, one of Six-Five's directors and the President and CEO of Vancouver FC, informed Ghotbi that the club was experiencing cash-flow challenges and asked if he would be willing to help financially. After discussions with Dean Shillington, a director of Six-Five, Ghotbi executed a loan agreement on July 13, 2023, advancing $500,000 to Six-Five Sports & Entertainment LP. Under the agreement, Six-Five would repay the loan by July 14, 2024, with an interest rate of 12% per annum, calculated daily.

As part of the agreement, the loan would be secured by Six-Five's right, title, and interest in all of its present and after-acquired personal property, including all property and assets, real and personal, movable or immovable, of whatever nature and kind, both present and future, and every interest therein.

The agreement included the express representation that the above was genuine, legally and beneficially owned by Six-Five, and free of any security interests and encumbrances. This was important to Ghotbi, who would not have proceeded with the loan had the agreement not contained this representation or had he believed his security interest was subordinate to other creditors.

As the repayment date approached in July 2024, Ghotbi contacted Shillington to inquire when Six-Five would repay the loan plus interest. Shillington requested an extension, claiming Vancouver FC needed the funds. To induce Ghotbi into extending the repayment date, Shillington represented that the loan plus interest would be repaid as soon as Ghotbi needed the funds and that the loan would bear interest at 20% until repayment. Not wanting to cause the club financial hardship, Ghotbi agreed to vary the repayment date and allow the loan plus interest to be repaid on demand at a later date.

In July 2025, a year after extending the loan and when Ghotbi and Vancouver FC mutually ended their relationship, he requested that Shillington repay the loan plus interest. When Ghotbi pressed for repayment, Shillington informed him for the first time that his security interest was subordinate to other secured creditors, contrary to prior representations. In September 2025, Ghotbi searched the British Columbia Personal Property Registry and discovered two undisclosed security interests registered in May 2023—before his loan—by entities controlled by Shillington himself: Knightsbridge Capital and KAPX Finance.

On October 8, 2025, Ghotbi formally demanded repayment of the loan plus interest, informing Six-Five that he had discovered the misrepresentation. A week later, Shillington advised Ghotbi that Six-Five could not repay the loan plus interest, that they were actively pursuing the sale of one of its primary assets, and that Six-Five was subject to multiple senior secured charges ranking in priority to Ghotbi's security interest.

Ghotbi claims that at the time Six-Five made the repayment representations, they knew or reasonably ought to have known that they did not intend to repay the loan plus interest on demand.

Afshin Ghotbi is seeking an order for the return of the loan plus all accrued interest, totaling $715,879.45, as well as damages for breach of contract, misrepresentation, general and special damages, interim and permanent injunctive relief preventing the defendants from dealing with their assets and requiring them to provide a list of assets, and punitive and aggravated damages, among other things.

Unless all parties consent or the court orders otherwise, each party of record to an action must, within 35 days after the end of the pleading period, prepare a list of documents that includes all documents that are or have been in the party's possession or control and that could be used by any party at trial to prove or disprove a material fact, as well as all other documents the party intends to reference at trial. The list must be served on all parties of record.

Afshin Ghotbi joined Vancouver FC as the inaugural head coach on November 2, 2022, the day the club was founded. His tenure wasn't successful—he failed to lead the club to a playoff position in his first two seasons and was sitting dead last in his third season when he was dismissed. His time in Langley was also reportedly contentious with many players, some of whom made indirect criticisms of the manager.

According to the lawsuit document, Ghotbi was preparing to move to Europe to begin the "next chapter of his career" after his time with the Eagles ended.

Dean Shillington is a director of SixFive and the managing partner of the LP, which owns Vancouver FC and Pacific FC. He also serves as chairman of Pacific. He is the founder and owner of Knightsbridge Capital, a financial services company based in Vancouver.

The Eagles are preparing for the biggest matches of their short history, as they're set to face Mexican giants Cruz Azul in a two-legged tie in February. They qualified for the Champions Cup after finishing as runner-ups in the Canadian Championship to the Whitecaps, who had already secured a berth through Major League Soccer.

Six-Five Sports & Entertainment also owns provincial rivals Pacific FC, which is facing similar financial issues.

In September 2025, the City of Langford issued a statement revealing that Pacific FC owes over $90,000 in unpaid office rent, stadium rental fees, and game-related costs. The club also hasn't remitted a $1 per ticket service charge for any 2025 home games intended for stadium maintenance.

Additionally, the statement said Pacific owes $691,477.77 under an Indoor Training Centre agreement, which the City has held in abeyance to allow for continued negotiations. The club also owes more than $24,000 to the City's field operator and food and beverage provider.

"While all stadium users are required to pay facility rental fees at the time of use, the City has allowed PFC to accrue a negative balance in good faith. Specifically, and rather than enforcing penalties beyond interest for outstanding amounts, such as locking PFC out of the stadium and office space, the City has chosen to honour the partnership and seek solutions that do not negatively impact fans, families, season ticket holders, or sponsors."

– City of Langford

Pacific was put up for sale in September, and while the Ghotbi lawsuit states that SixFive was actively pursuing the sale of one of its primary assets, it's not confirmed whether the asset in question is Pacific or something else.

TrueNorthFoot has requested both Vancouver FC and Six-Five Sports & Entertainment for comment.