In a joint statement, Afshin Ghotbi, SixFive Sports & Entertainment, and Dean Shillington confirmed they have settled the legal lawsuit between them, ending a legal dispute that arose in December.

The former Vancouver FC head coach had sued SixFive and Shillington over an alleged failure to repay a $500,000 loan plus interest.

As part of the settlement, SixFive has committed to fulfilling its financial obligations to Ghotbi, though the specific terms were not disclosed.

“I’m satisfied that we’ve reached a resolution, and I wish Vancouver FC and the fans continued success,” said Afshin Ghotbi.

"We’re glad to have reached an agreement. Afshin made a meaningful contribution to this club and we wish him well.” said Dean Shillington, managing partner at SixFive. “SixFive is pleased to move forward, with Vancouver FC and the continued growth of the Canadian Premier League remaining the focus."

A recap

The lawsuit, filed by Afshin Ghotbi in December 2025, centred on a $500,000 loan dispute with SixFive Sports & Entertainment LP, the ownership group behind Vancouver FC and Pacific FC.

After Vancouver FC President and CEO Rob Friend told Ghotbi the club was facing cash-flow problems, Ghotbi advanced $500,000 to SixFive under a loan agreement negotiated with director Dean Shillington. The loan was set to be repaid by July 14, 2024, at 12% annual interest, and was supposedly secured against all of SixFive's present and after-acquired personal property. Critically, SixFive expressly represented that this collateral was free of any other security interests or encumbrances, a representation Ghotbi relied on in agreeing to lend the money.

As the repayment deadline approached, Shillington asked for an extension, saying the club needed the funds. To get Ghotbi to agree, Shillington promised the loan plus interest would be repaid on demand whenever Ghotbi needed it, and that the interest rate would rise to 20% until repayment. Ghotbi agreed.

A year later, after Ghotbi and Vancouver FC parted ways, he asked for repayment. Shillington then told him for the first time that his security interest was actually subordinate to other secured creditors. When Ghotbi searched the BC Personal Property Registry in September 2025, he found two security interests registered in May 2023, before his loan, held by Knightsbridge Capital and KAPX Finance, both entities controlled by Shillington himself.

Ghotbi demanded repayment and flagged the misrepresentation. Shillington responded that SixFive couldn't repay, was trying to sell off a major asset, believed to be Pacific FC, and was subject to multiple senior secured charges ranking ahead of Ghotbi.

The former Vancouver FC head coach was seeking the repayment of the loan plus accrued interest totalling $715,879.45, damages for breach of contract and misrepresentation, injunctive relief to prevent the defendants from dealing with their assets, disclosure of an asset list, and punitive and aggravated damages. His core allegation was that SixFive and Shillington knew at the time they made the repayment promises that they had no intention, or ability, to honour them.

In its response filed January 15, SixFive Sports and Entertainment presented a very different version of events from the one laid out in Afshin Ghotbi's lawsuit.

SixFive alleged that after Ghotbi was hired as head coach of Vancouver FC, it was he who approached Rob Friend about investing in the company, not the other way around. Because there were advantages to structuring the arrangement as a loan, the $500,000 was advanced on that basis, with an option to convert it into equity at a later stage. According to SixFive, Ghotbi went on to recruit other investors to the firm and expressed interest in converting his own loan into equity, before changing course in early 2025 and requesting his money back.

SixFive further alleged that Ghotbi knew, or ought to have known, that other creditors ranked ahead of him and that repayment was dependent on future liquidity events, directly contradicting his claim that he had been kept in the dark about prior security interests.

Managing director Dean Shillington launched a counterclaim alleging abuse of process, stating that Ghotbi had named him personally in the lawsuit in part to exact revenge for the termination of his coaching role at Vancouver FC.

SixFive also alleged that before the lawsuit, the parties had been in confidential negotiations over repayment. By including details of those discussions in his statement of claim, Ghotbi had, in SixFive's words, blatantly, maliciously, and improperly breached settlement privilege. They further alleged that Ghotbi had distributed his notice of claim to Canadian and international soccer media with the intent of causing reputational and financial harm to both SixFive and Shillington.

SixFive sought financial damages, with Shillington claiming injury to his personal and professional reputation as well as his relationships within the soccer industry.

Afshin Ghotbi was named the first head coach of Vancouver FC when the club launched in late 2022.

His first two seasons saw the side finish seventh out of eight, and his third campaign in 2025 was cut short at the halfway point when he was sacked. Under his tenure, the club reached the Canadian Championship semi-finals for the first time in its history, also going on to reach the final after his departure.

Ghotbi has not held a head coaching role since.