COVENTRY have been thrown out of the Premiership by the BSPA over fears that the Bees would be unable to fulfil their fixtures this year.
A winter of uncertainty over the future of the club's long-term home at Brandon culminated in Coventry promoter Mick Horton announcing a temporary track share with Leicester at the end of January.
It was intended to be a stop-gap measure while efforts were made to return the Bees to Brandon, but on Sunday, the BSPA issued the following statement:
"˜With deep regret, the British Speedway Promoters' Association announce Coventry Bees will not be competing in the 2017 SGB Premiership and their licence has been put on ice.
Due to well documented issues with their former Brandon Stadium home, the Bees only have an agreement in place to run a handful of meetings at Leicester. "¨
The club, therefore, are not in a position to satisfy the Association that they can fulfil a full season of league racing with no guarantee of returning to Brandon."¨
In addition there have been developments in the past 10 days where financial support for the Coventry promotion has changed, again meaning the Association are not satisfied they can fulfil a full season. "¨
We feel extremely sad for the Bees riders, fans and officials but we believe this decision has been made in the best interests of the sport. "¨
We sincerely hope circumstances can improve for Coventry during the course of this year which will enable them to return to the track in the 2018 season.'