Brisbane Roar captain Matt McKay insists he has no intention of leaving the A-League club despite their financial woes.
And the Socceroos midfielder is optimistic the bitter pay dispute between Football Federation Australia and Professional Footballers Australia will soon be resolved.
The Roar’s financial crisis has already claimed one victim, with star midfielder Luke Brattan walking out on the club because of unpaid superannuation.
Other players are dealing with the same issue, along with late payment of wages.
Brisbane’s owners – the Bakrie Group – have already been given a final warning by FFA to fix the debt issues immediately or risk being stripped of the club’s licence.
More Roar players are rumoured to be keen to follow Brattan out the door.
But McKay says that isn’t the case, claiming he and the rest of the players are keen to stay as long as the financial situation can be sorted.
“I haven’t heard of anyone else wanting to leave,” McKay said on Monday.
“Personally, I’m very happy at the club. We’ve got a very good set-up playing wise.
“And if we can keep everyone together, hopefully we can start challenging again.”
Brisbane Roar chairman Chris Fong claims the Bakrie Group is close to finalising the sale of the club.
To McKay and his teammates, it can’t come quick enough.
“Off the field it’s not working, and it’s quite obvious to everyone that it needs to be sold before the start of the season hopefully,” he said.
“I can’t say it’s not on people’s minds, because it is. Anyone who goes to a job wants to be paid, and we haven’t been.
“Off the field, we are grateful that we’ve got the PFA in place that have been helping some players … pay their mortgages on time.”
McKay, 32, is also the president of the PFA, meaning he’s had a lot on his plate during the off-season.
The FFA and PFA have been at loggerheads over the stalled collective bargaining agreement, with Australia’s soccer players wanting a larger slice of the financial pie.
McKay is optimistic an agreement can be put in place before the start of the A-League season on October 8.
“We’ve been through a tough couple of months, and hopefully there’s some light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
McKay is in Perth this week to prepare for the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on Thursday, with the squad headlined by star striker Tim Cahill.
Despite losing key trio Mile Jedinak, Tomi Juric and Robbie Kruse to injury, Australia are expected to cruise past Bangladesh, who are ranked 170th in the world.
The Socceroos then travel to Tajikistan for another World Cup qualifier on September 8, and McKay said it was crucial for the team not to take their lower-ranked opponents lightly.
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Roar Guru
Nobody else should leave Brisbane, i think what Brattan did was unprofessional and shows how impatient and restless the player is. What if the situation does get sorted? Because Brattan did this, if i was a manager i don't know if i'd sign him or not. What if the club he signed for was in strife? you'd want your players to stick together more than anything right? I like wht Mckay is doing and being the captain of the club he should be encouraged to stick by the club at any means necessary, and i'm sure if the club did get stripped of it's license then there would be every single a-league club at his doorstep at his beg and call. ' It's surprising considering that they do this for living and they have not been paid, it would annoy me too, but reassurance that the club won't go under may not be enough to keep their best players.
Ian
Guest
I will be surprised if anyone else actually 'goes'. Bratts wants a try in Europe and can justifiably use the non-payment of super as a get out clause. Will miss him as he is one of my family's favourite players and wish him well. Apparently last year an injury stopped him going to Brighton I think it was. The thing that irks me beyond the Bakries' existence is that they still have millions in cash available. They aren't skint. If they wanted to pay these debts they could. Non-payment of super, QRU, dry cleaners, staff wages, player wages, it's poor form to not pay your way. Sure, sell the club if you don't want it anymore. But at least pay people what you owe until it is sold. I can't tell honestly if they want to sell to a third party or are calling the FFA's bluff to see if they cancel their licence and take on the debt (I assume the FFA would need to pay the debts off if the licence is revoked). Having the licence revoked will cost them more but the debts owed will reduce the selling price. We need another story. At least looking forward to the trial against Newcastle next Saturday down at Cleveland.
Waz
Guest
Good, although it's getting to the point where there's little or no more insight to be said on this story; the FFAs stance on this situation is now under the microscope (which is unhelpful as there's only one "enemy" in all this - the owners) and the Bakries are viewed with such contempt it's looking like some fans can't seperate the playing football club from the owners meaning they seem unlikely to engague as long as they hang around. The continued uncertainty is contributing to a "death by a thousand cuts" scenario playing out; this months overdue wages were finally paid yesterday thanks to the FFAs intervention on Friday but Super (something like 13 months behind now) and other major debts remain unresolved. In five weeks time we kick off the season and it looks like we'll be doing it 3 players under quota (presumably they'll be leaning on the NYL squad to backfill) and at the moment we're running about $500k under the salary cap but to fix the floor issue they can just allocate McKays salary of $395k. 3 out of the first five games are tough and away to WSW, Nix and the Smurfs, with Adelaide and Mariners at home in between - those games have now become a test of how much damage the Bakries have done vs Aloisis's management ability. Although if it's a poor start poor John will still cop it but if it's s good start JA should be seen as having performed a miracle. Roar fans seem to pretty much have had it with the situation, non-Roar fans while not necessarily as close or seeing the seriousness of the situation must also be getting fed up with the story as well alas the Circus limps on; this time with a rickety FFA caravan in tow. All we need now is the bearded lady and we are complete!!