Brisbane Roar owners have only days to clear debts - FFA

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The owners of three-times A-League champions Brisbane Roar have only days to clear their debts or risk losing control of the financially-stricken club.





Roar, owned by the heavily indebted Bakrie Group, an Indonesian mining and telecoms conglomerate, have been under siege from creditors and behind on player payments.

The owners met with Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop last month and were told to recapitalise the club urgently.

"At this stage the current owners have indicated they want to clear the debts," Gallop told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.

"They've got quite a short period of time to get that done. A matter of days, not weeks.

"We would certainly like to see all the debts cleared as quickly as possible and make sure that the club's in the right shape for the start of the A-League."

The opening round of the A-League starts Oct. 8.

It was unclear whether the FFA had set the owners a deadline but Gallop last month threatened them with the withdrawal of their A-League licence if the debts were not cleared quickly.

Roar have been the target of legal action from a number of different parties, with the Queensland Rugby Union filing a court action in July to have the club wound up over alleged unpaid rent at Ballymore, their former training base.

Former coach Paul Mulvey, who was sacked six months after leading the team to the 2014 A-League championship, is also suing the club for deceit and misleading conduct regarding alleged contractual problems.

Australia's national players' association said on Wednesday that Roar was up to date with wages but still owed players more than a year's benefits, including pensions, medical expenses and appearance fees.

The Bakrie Group, the first foreign owners to hold a majority stake in an A-League club, took over Roar in 2011 after the previous owners handed back the licence to the FFA after burning through millions of dollars.





(Editing by John O'Brien)


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