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Richmond president Clinton Casey no longer will be risking $1.7 million of his own once the club receives an emergency bank guarantee from the AFL.
Casey, whose personal guarantee enabled Richmond to extend its bank overdraft, or short-term debt, to $1.7 million, yesterday confirmed that, in effect, the AFL would replace him as the provider of security.
Richmond has applied for a $3.5 million redirection order from the AFL. In practice, this means the AFL guarantees to the club's (ANZ) bank that the Tigers will receive that amount as part of their annual dividend of more than $4 million at the end of the season.
Casey's decision to back the club financially has been central to recent upheaval at board level, with departed vice-president Brendan Schwab opposing the president's intervention before he quit the board. The AFL also had been concerned that Richmond had become reliant upon its wealthy president for support.
Casey said once the AFL's re-direction order was in place, in the next month or so, it would become the "substitute" for his financial support.
"I'm there as a temporary measure until we get an alternative facility in place," Casey said of the $1.7 million he provided in security.
"They (the AFL) just give the bank an undertaking that at the end of the season, there will be a cheque for the amount of $4 million."
Casey said he had provided the $1.7 million in security because "at the time, we didn't have an alternative". "What was Brendan (Schwab) going to do? What was his alternative?"
Schwab had proposed the action the club has subsequently taken - a re-direction order from the AFL.
But Casey said the club did not take the AFL option at first because of time constraints. "The club needed to organise a facility and I know how long these things (re-direction orders) take," he said.
"We needed someone to stand in until we had that to have an alternative facility in place."
While it will please the AFL, it is unclear what effect the removal of Casey's financial backing will have on Richmond's political situation.
Three directors have left the board in three weeks, with one vacancy already filled by radio host and commentator Anthony Mithen.
The Tigers initially had sought a re-direction order totalling just over $2 million, but this amount grew to $3.5 million once the AFL informed the Tigers that a new agreement with the players mandated monthly payments to all league players. This meant the Tigers had to find an extra $1.2 million quickly.
Casey is in the process of finding two new board members, one of whom will be responsible for football. The club does not have a director with an AFL-playing background after the resignation of Peter Welsh and the electoral defeat of long-serving Tony Jewell.
Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham will quit at the end of the season, after a 12-year stint that included overseeing the club's entry to the AFL in 1997. Cunningham, who played 263 matches for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL from 1971 to 1983, is the AFL's longest-serving chief executive at a single club.
He said his decision was not motivated by any lingering disappointment at being overlooked for the position of AFL football operations manager last year
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/30/1080544487803.html
Casey, whose personal guarantee enabled Richmond to extend its bank overdraft, or short-term debt, to $1.7 million, yesterday confirmed that, in effect, the AFL would replace him as the provider of security.
Richmond has applied for a $3.5 million redirection order from the AFL. In practice, this means the AFL guarantees to the club's (ANZ) bank that the Tigers will receive that amount as part of their annual dividend of more than $4 million at the end of the season.
Casey's decision to back the club financially has been central to recent upheaval at board level, with departed vice-president Brendan Schwab opposing the president's intervention before he quit the board. The AFL also had been concerned that Richmond had become reliant upon its wealthy president for support.
Casey said once the AFL's re-direction order was in place, in the next month or so, it would become the "substitute" for his financial support.
"I'm there as a temporary measure until we get an alternative facility in place," Casey said of the $1.7 million he provided in security.
"They (the AFL) just give the bank an undertaking that at the end of the season, there will be a cheque for the amount of $4 million."
Casey said he had provided the $1.7 million in security because "at the time, we didn't have an alternative". "What was Brendan (Schwab) going to do? What was his alternative?"
Schwab had proposed the action the club has subsequently taken - a re-direction order from the AFL.
But Casey said the club did not take the AFL option at first because of time constraints. "The club needed to organise a facility and I know how long these things (re-direction orders) take," he said.
"We needed someone to stand in until we had that to have an alternative facility in place."
While it will please the AFL, it is unclear what effect the removal of Casey's financial backing will have on Richmond's political situation.
Three directors have left the board in three weeks, with one vacancy already filled by radio host and commentator Anthony Mithen.
The Tigers initially had sought a re-direction order totalling just over $2 million, but this amount grew to $3.5 million once the AFL informed the Tigers that a new agreement with the players mandated monthly payments to all league players. This meant the Tigers had to find an extra $1.2 million quickly.
Casey is in the process of finding two new board members, one of whom will be responsible for football. The club does not have a director with an AFL-playing background after the resignation of Peter Welsh and the electoral defeat of long-serving Tony Jewell.
Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham will quit at the end of the season, after a 12-year stint that included overseeing the club's entry to the AFL in 1997. Cunningham, who played 263 matches for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL from 1971 to 1983, is the AFL's longest-serving chief executive at a single club.
He said his decision was not motivated by any lingering disappointment at being overlooked for the position of AFL football operations manager last year
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/30/1080544487803.html
