By JARROD POTTER
PAY up by the end of the week or play elsewhere.
This was the ultimatum Football Federation Victoria (FFV) issued to Dandenong Wolves FC this week as the Victorian soccer body called a final deadline on a sizeable amount of money owed by the club.
The Noble Park-based club owes the FFV over $11,000 – accrued from 2012 as debts piled up over missed payments for fines – and has until tomorrow (Friday) to pay the full amount to stay affiliated.
FFV removed all affected fixtures from its website on Tuesday and sent a letter to the clubs in State Leagues 4 and 5 about changes to the league composition after announcing the Wolves were withdrawn from State League 4 South.
“A month ago they said pay in full or we’re going to drop points off you (Wolves) for the season and then I think it was last week, one of our guys got in contact with them and they said we have to pay in full or we’re going to suspend you,” Dandenong Wolves president Sinan Akkurt said.
“We were after a payment plan and basically they didn’t accept the payment plan and this week basically I found out off another team.
“All our players and other teams were informed we were out before basically any of the guys in the committee.
“It was basically an unexpected shock to all of us – at least I thought they’d call us down for a meeting, but we’re still in negotiations with them as we speak.”
Akkurt said in his two years at the helm of the club the debt owed to FFV had reduced from $17,000 to $11,000 and – given a chance to work out another payment plan – the Wolves would abide by FFV’s terms.
“We’re not a club that are running away from our fines, we are prepared to go on a payment plan and when I first rocked up to the club there was a $17,000 debt,” Akkurt said.
“In the last two years if it’s gone down to nine-10-11 whatever it is, obviously there is some progress there – we put our head on the chopping block and say we will pay you our debt.
“Either kick us out – and you get nothing – or give us a payment plan and we’ll pay our debt.”
For a small club – only five years old – to raise that much money in such a short time though was always going to be extremely difficult Akkurt said.
He also thinks on top of the looming deadline for payment, the additional penalty of dropping the club down a division, even if it pays in full, is unfair and has discouraged some in the club from wanting to pay off the debt at all.
“They’ve given us another chance, which is the good news, but the bad news is that was yesterday (Wednesday) and they give us another chance paying the full amount by the end of the week, which is two days notice,” Akkurt said.
“For a local club with hardly any income in the off-season … they’re almost asking the impossible – they’ve put a gun to our head and said either pay or you’re out.
“Not only are they asking that we have to pay within two days, but that they’re going to drop us a division to State 5.
“So why are they making us pay and drop us? What are we dropping for – what’s the reason. If we’re paying our fine, what’s the reason for the dropping.”
With the looming threat of suspension over the Wolves’ head, Akkurt said he doesn’t know if players will stay with the club following suspension even if they move to alternate soccer competitions – Bayside Football Association or VicSoccer – which could mean the end of the club as a whole.
The uncertainty of the Wolves’ future has also affected the club’s junior girls and boys sides, who could be without a club nearing the end of the pre-season.
If the fine isn’t paid, no junior side can register under the Dandenong Wolves club name either.
“This is my family mate, and it’s like they’re separating me from my family,” Akkurt said.
“I’ve got to tell each and every parent and player, juniors to seniors, guys, we have to shut shop.
“These guys have been in pre-season training since December, and they’ve been putting their blood and bones into this and I’ve got to turn around and say guys you’ve wasted that whole time, I apologise, how am I going to do that?”
In a statement sent to the Journal on Thursday, Football Federation Victoria said the matter had reached a critical point and the organisation had no choice but to withdraw the Wolves from the league.
“FFV is extremely disappointed that the matter with Dandenong Wolves has reached the point it has,” the statement said.
“The club has owed money to FFV for a number of years now and despite numerous efforts to arrange payment including extended deadlines and payment plans, over $11,000 remains outstanding.
“As hard as it is to remove a club from our competitions, it eventually gets to a point where we have no choice.
“Allowing clubs with debts like this one to continue in our competitions places the players’ playing futures in doubt as often future registration fees are used to pay existing debts.
“We are of course doing all we can to ensure that all players remain involved in football in 2015 We have written to each player from the club informing them of the decision and offering our help to find another club in the area.”
In a secondary statement, the FFV confirmed if the outstanding amount was paid by Friday, the Dandenong Wolves could enter discussions to be placed in State League 5 or a Metropolitan League and retain its affiliation with the organisation, but not to resume its former spot in State League 4.
The Wolves are playing a practice match tonight (Thursday) at Knox Regional Football Centre against Riversdale from 7pm – with all Wolves fans encouraged to come down and support the team, potentially in its last ever FFV-affiliated match.
Dandenong Wolves can be contacted at info@wolvesfc.co or visit their Facebook page “Dandenong Wolves Dandenong Turkgucu” for anyone interested in helping out the club with its looming debt deadline tomorrow (Friday).
