Feyenoord borrows to pay player's wages
The financial problems at Rotterdam football club Feyenoord are so severe that the club has been forced to take out loans to pay its players' salaries and meet other, current operating expenses, a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday. The necessary funding is to come from a private investor and the company that runs the club's famous stadium 'De Kuip'.
A report on Feyenoord's financial plight - published on Wednesday in Dutch soccer weekly Voetbal International - forced the club to confirm the news. In a statement, two directors commented that there are evidently individuals outside the organisation who have an interest in sowing discord by spreading this confidential information.
The club not only faces problems in paying its immediate bills, it also has debts worth in excess of 17 million euros. Yet it is also waiting to have some of its own bills paid, including an amount of around two million euros for Polish striker Ebi Smolarek. Feyernoord still held 50 percent of the transfer rights following Borussia’s purchase of the Polish international to Spanish side Racing Santander. The German club does not dispute the claim, but is not obliged to transfer that money to Feyenoord until it has been paid in full by Santander, and - according to the Feyenoord spokesman - the Spanish club has not done so. The Rotterdam club says the loans it has sought are in part an attempt to bridge the gap until such debts are finally settled.
Another factor in the club's financial problems has been the team's poor performance in the current season, both in domestic and European matches. Being knocked out of the races for both the Dutch KNVB cup and the UEFA cup has led to lower receipts at the turnstiles and from merchandising. The club is currently in 11th in the Dutch premier league.
The club spokesman said this had made the last three month's of the football season - which can be tight for many a football club at the best of times - particularly tough for Feyenoord. Nonetheless, he commented that there was "no reason to worry."
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Sponsorship Feyenoord was also facing the loss of its main sponsor, with the troubled Belgian-Dutch banking group Fortis pulling out of its deal with the club. However, that problem now looks to have been resolved with Wednesday's announcement that insurer ASR Nederland will have its logo emblazoned on the team's kit from the start of the 2009-2010 season. ASR (previously known as Fortis-ASR) is continuing its insurance business in the Netherlands |