Predrag Mijatovic, member of FK Partizan Task Force Group, staged a presser to inform public of current matters in the club and to present upcoming plans regarding FK Partizan`s recovery.
-First of all, I`d like to welcome you at our black-and-white home. As you might have guessed, it`s time for us to make one rundown of things we did over the three months since we took over. It`s the end of the year and all companies or sports associations look at their numbers and balances, so it`s my obligation to come out public and inform you of things our management group did so far and what we plan to do. I`ll be honest, transparent and direct – something we all promised when we arrived here at the first place.
There are number of topics, financial one to start with, as well as sporting matters. I`ll give you exact numbers here so we don`t have any more media speculation. FK Partizan is 53, 128,000 Euros in debt as of current. That`s the data we gathered over these three months and it`s our duty to be precise so that the public and fans know what happening in this house of ours. Out of the total sum, roughly 7,250,000e is a debt towards clubs home and abroad, out of which 1, 883, 187e is a debt towards domestic clubs. Then we have 22,487,000e in unpaid taxes followed by 4,915,343e regarding football agents. Loans, suppliers and other due obligations amount to 6,800,000e as well as 1,472,000e of auditing and deferred tax liabilities. This is reliable, precise and correct info and there`s no room for any speculation or guessing.
Total debt has been reduced over this three-month period, it`s been more than 53 mil. Euros and we expect to reduce it for 3,8 mil. Euros more by the end the season.
On the other hand, from January 1 2017 up to now, Partizan had a total income of 145, 817, 005e, players transfers alone added 81,325,000e to the club`s budget while UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League appearances amounted to 32,246,000e, The rest of the income came from state sponsorship deals.
Expenditure for the same period for purchase of players and football agents fees amounts to 33,009,875e.
We also have problems with player`s contract and percentages of future sales involved as well as sudden influx of lawsuits against the club.
As for the sports matters, we enter winter break as league`s runners-up but we cannot call this a success as no Partizan fan can be satisfied with second place at the standings. If we were a club with no such history and greatness, I would probably be content with fourth of fifth position on the league table. On the other hand, it`s good we are second-places as we will be able to compete in Europe but you can be pleased with runners-up spot here.
We have number of ideas how to run things here, to make things better and to make better things last. Of course, there will be ups and downs but you need a clear direction. If there is a player sought after and if he doesn`t feel like signing for us, we are not going to go after him just because we don`t want him to sign for a rival team. We have to offer something other clubs cannot do. We`ll do everything possible for future possible signings to recognize what we are doing here.
I`m always an optimist, my glass is always half-full. We need to clear things up, make a project, secure funding, get an architect and interior designer at the end, just like building a house. Just give us some time, we do work and try hard, just a bit of patience is what we ask for.
Mijatovic on coaching matters…
-Since Milosevic`s departure, I spoke to around half-a-dozen potential coaches, including foreign ones but I`ll keep it to myself now. Final decision will be made by Danko Lazovic and me and we will have a new coach by the end of the first week of January. I`m in intensive negotiations with certain coaching candidates but it`s tough taking into the account our overall situation. But, we will have someone who will be here to help, to do his best to make this team play better, create better ambiance within the squad so we can finish the season the was we desire.
Mijatovic on team and transfers…
Our finances are such that I can`t have a team I would like to. I have great ideas and I would know who to sign if I had financial backing and budget but I don`t. We need to release certain players but we also have financial obligations towards them and I need budget to reach agreements with those players.
I said to the players that we can`t fault them, but we need more quality in this team definitely. We will do our best to get fresh blood during winter transfer window, get some more quality players as that`s all we can do at the moment and we are doing our job in that department as we speak.
