Blues meet to consider seeking AFL assistance

MeeSo

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Blues meet to consider seeking AFL assistance

By Caroline Wilson
February 21, 2006

THE new streamlined Carlton board will convene tonight to vote upon a series of groundbreaking issues that will determine the future of the club.

The Age believes there is a push from sections of the board to seek AFL financial assistance, with the Blues set to announce another significant loss at next month's annual meeting.

While the football club is expected to announce a small profit, that will be more than swallowed up by a big social club loss — the size of which is still being determined by the club's auditors.

Carlton's first board meeting for 2006 — and the first without outgoing directors Ken Hunter and David McKay — is expected receive a mixture of good and bad news from president Ian Collins.

Among the positives, extensive negotiations led by Collins and his chief executive Michael Malouf mean the Blues have received an assurance from the Australian Taxation Office that the club will not be liable for an anticipated social club tax bill, which could have cost Carlton at least $1 million and challenged its already perilous cash flow situation.

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But Collins is also expected to lead the debate on what now seems inevitable, with the enforced closure of the social club as a legal entity. This significant restructure of Carlton's complicated group of entities will end a long era for its famous social club but cannot come about without a vote from the members at the March annual meeting.

Carlton remains one of several Victorian clubs that does not have a ball sponsor, and is yet to strike a commercial deal for coach Denis Pagan as he embarks upon his second three-year stint with the Blues. Although Carlton is believed to be hopeful it will seal a deal with Pagan before the start of the season, it also faces 2006 without its long-term Optus agreement.

The Blues are not confident of signing a sponsor for Princes Park, given the stadium's new position as a training venue rather than an AFL matchday ground. Optus is said to have rejected a series of smaller but significant signage offers with Carlton.

The future of the stadium also will be debated tonight, with the club soon to finalise rebuilding and renovation agreements with the AFL, the Melbourne City Council and the State Government.
 

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Funkalicous

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What a disgrace that they'd even consider AFL assistance. Where is the club's pride?

They need to foget about taking the easy way out right now. As far as I'm concerned, they don't even qualify for AFL assistance. The Bulldogs and Kangaroos lack members and crowd numbers, but not the Blues. They need to stop being complacent, and fix the problem. Sit down, crunch some numbers, and create a bloody budget that works!

This is shameful. :(
 

MeeSo

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I don't think it's a big deal. We've been going through this will they/won't they stuff with the CBF for a while now. On the positive side the football club itself is profitable and we don't have to worry about the tax bill anymore. Good to see the renovation is on the agenda as well.

On another note I'd love to know where Caro keeps getting this info from. She seems to be getting far too many stories out of the board room.

Edit - Now that I think about it is any of the negative stuff in this article actually new info? The club has always said they'd access the CBF if required and the social club issue has been well known since the tax bill story broke.
 

Effes

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#4
MeeSo said:
On another note I'd love to know where Caro keeps getting this info from. She seems to be getting far too many stories out of the board room.
Collo probably leaks it to her.......been thousands of Carlton stories leaked to her from the board
 

Silvagnis

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Blues keen for talks with AFL on aid - Samantha Lane. The Age.

CARLTON chief executive Michael Malouf said his club sees no shame in approaching the AFL for financial support, although the Blues yesterday denied they already had requested fiscal assistance from the league.

Malouf told The Sunday Age that while the club had made an initial approach to the AFL about addressing its bleak financial position, the league's support would not necessarily be financial.

In a statement yesterday, the club denied that its board had formally resolved to apply for special assistance funding at a meeting last Tuesday night, but Malouf said it was not something Carlton was avoiding, either.

"We've said for the last two years that if the club needs funding assistance from the AFL, then it would have no hesitation in (applying) to receive those funds. You can't ignore funding support if your club needs it for whatever reason," he said.

"Ever since I've been at the club, Ian Collins has stated very, very clearly at every opportunity that if the Carlton Football Club needs funds, it will have no hesitation in applying for them."

Malouf sent a letter to AFL boss Andrew Demetriou late last week, but said it merely initiated dialogue between the club and the league that may, or may not, lead to an official request for funds.

"It was a short letter to the AFL advising that we wished to commence the process of looking at what options might be available to support the club. It's as simple as that," Malouf said.

"The special assistance fund has not been discussed with the AFL in any shape or form.

"We have requested them to commence a process of working with us to see what support could be available to the Carlton Football Club, and it could involve a number of options … That means the AFL and ourselves now go into discussion, review, and see what's available. What happens down the track … hasn't yet been determined by either party.

"It may not be money, it might be assistance from their staff, it could be assistance from their corporate people to help with marketing … it could be more than just funding."

A special Carlton board meeting was called on Friday afternoon following reports that the club already had moved to lodge a funding request.

Malouf said the discussions with the AFL were likely to take months rather than weeks. "I think that's more likely … but I'm only guessing because at this stage we don't know, we haven't had one discussion."

While he had not heard back from Demetriou, the next step was to arrange a formal discussion.

The Sunday Age believes that last September, when Demetriou and the chairman of the AFL Commission, Ron Evans, had a routine annual meeting with Carlton's board, the matter of how the club planned to handle its financial affairs was discussed at length.

It is understood that Malouf was then charged with preparing a document to submit to the AFL about the financial direction of the club, and that board member Marcus Rose recently has become involved in putting that document together.

Meanwhile, yesterday's stormy weather has forced the cancellation of the Blues' family day today at Princes Park. The heavy rain meant preparations could not be made, and the club is hopeful of re-scheduling the event sometime during the pre-season.
 
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