Filenews 25 January 2025
And facilities to secure a "lifeline" and a new plan for the repayment of their debts are required by the government football companies.
Yesterday, the unions, responding to the call of the Commissioner of Taxation Sotiris Markides, promoted in writing the formula they proposed at last Wednesday's meeting. The letter is addressed to the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos and bears the signatures of all affected unions, which have overdue debts to the Tax, so that the regulations cover everyone.
Specifically, the letter reflects what APOEL, Apollon, AEL, Anorthosis and Ethnikos Achna had verbally said last Wednesday during the meeting with the Superintendent and technocrats of the Tax Department.
The letter contains eight points and provides for the payment of a lump sum of €500,000 to cover part of the new debts created by these clubs from May 2023 onwards, amounting to € 4.1 million.
They pledge that in the next three months they will pay part of the new debts they created and their previous debts, without specifying the amount they will pay during this period.
At the same time, they asked for the implementation of a new plan to include in it the new debts that have been collected. Football companies believe that in case there is a new plan, they will be able to settle their debts from scratch, with gradual repayment over time.
It will also be easier for clubs with a new plan running, to appear to meet UEFA criteria, as the new plan will show that new arrangements are underway, without delays. At the same time, they believe that with the new formula they propose and the increase in revenue they will have from the increase in the tax on betting, practically the instalments will have to be revised.
It should be noted that the clubs have pledged that those clubs that are late in paying their debts will be deducted by the CFA from the amounts that some clubs receive from UEFA sponsorships.
Did the Finance Minister disagree in the past?
Many times the finance minister had sent the message to the unions that there would be no new plan. After the request of the "five" for a new plan, the ball is now in the hands of the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers, which will have to decide whether to give the teams another chance.
Essentially, there will have to be a political decision on this issue. Keravnos also said he would not give the required certificates to clubs that they meet UEFA criteria if they did not meet their existing commitments.
€500,000 PROPOSAL
We are informed that the amount of €500,000 that the unions proposed to give as an advance payment to the Tax Department does not seem to fully satisfy the competent authorities, as it is a drop in the ocean in the debts they created. The technocrats of the department, in order to be satisfied, the amount of the next instalments that the unions will pay in the next quarter should be such that it will cover a large part of the debts.
Perhaps the government side will demand some differentiation – an increase in relation to the amount of the lump sum proposed by the unions. It has often been said that in order for the Tax Department to be satisfied, the unions will have to pay 50% of the new debts. APOEL president Prodromos Petrides, speaking yesterday in Sigma, said that the club did not refuse to pay money, pointing out that he was asking for facilities for late instalments, without asking for any debt write-off. He also confirmed that a proposal was made by the teams to give as a first tranche an amount of €500,000.
On burning coals
The clubs are sitting on hot coals as they await the executive's decision. They are mainly burning for the certificates relating to UEFA criteria, as this issue needs to be clarified before May. It is noted that as of yesterday morning the written proposal of the unions is being examined by the technocrats of the Tax Department. In the coming days, various scenarios related to the proposal will be forwarded to the Minister of Finance.
A competent source told "F" that within the next week the final decision of the Government is expected to be communicated to the football companies.
