Force financially firm says Chairman
Sat, 31 May 2008 09:46
Western Force Chairman Geoff Stooke says the franchise is in sound financial shape despite experiencing difficulties with major sponsor Firepower.
Players at the Perth-based Super 14 side have been contacting their managers to ensure their contracts are sound. This followed a report in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday that Firepower had not paid the club thousands of dollars for their jersey sponsorship, and owed some of the club's high profile players money as part of their third-party contracts.
Firepower payments formed a substantial part of Matt Giteau's three-year, AUS$4.5 million (US$4.3 million) contract, while most of the other Firepower-linked players, including Drew Mitchell, Ryan Cross and Cameron Shepherd, are owed more than AUS$100,000 (US$95,000) each. Scott Staniforth is also owed money.
Stooke said Western Force had declared a profit of AUS$1m (US$955,000) at the end of December 2007 and the franchise was financially robust enough to weather the problems relating to Firepower.
"We are not in financial difficulties, there is the matter to resolve, that being the Firepower issue, but the health of the club is not contingent on that, we have a broad portfolio of sponsors in our club," Stooke said.
He added he was not planning to step aside as Chairman and his position had not been discussed.
