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London - The bitter court battle over the sale of Liverpool football club resumed on Wednesday with the former American co-owners pursuing a $1.6bn damages claim for what they branded a "giant swindle".
The case in London comes as Liverpool's fortunes on the pitch have been revived for the first time since Tom Hicks and George Gillett jnr were forced to sell the club against their will to the owners of the Boston Red Sox in October.
Lawyers for Hicks and Gillett need the approval of the High Court judge to pursue damages against the Royal Bank of Scotland and three then-club directors who approved the $476m sale to New England Sports Ventures.
In October, Hicks and Gillett had to withdraw a temporary restraining order blocking the sale, which they had obtained in a Texas court, to avoid being declared in contempt of the London court.
"There is no settled decision by us to sue in England or abroad," Paul Girolami, representing Hicks and Gillett, told London's High Court on Wednesday.
Hicks has claimed "the British Establishment" conspired to sell the club for less than half of what it was worth to NESV, which is led by Red Sox owner John Henry.
Hicks and Gillett were not in court on Wednesday...
The case centres around whether three English board members had the power to overrule them and approve the sale to Henry's ownership group.
Hicks and Gillett were forced to put the club up for sale in April after struggling to meet the repayments resulting from their 2007 leveraged takeover. Debts had reached around £285m at the time of the sale and Hicks and Gillett want damages for the losses they incurred as a result of the NESV buyout.
RBS, which held the bulk of Liverpool's debt, and former chair Martin Broughton are countersuing to try to stop Hicks and Gillett from continuing their pursuit of damages.
Liverpool was facing relegation at the time of the sale in October after the team's worst start to a season in about 50 years.
But the 18-time English champions, who fired manager Roy Hodgson and replaced him with Kenny Dalglish, have now won four consecutive matches and are in sixth place in the Premier League.
