North Queensland Fury officially axed from A-League

Football Federation Australia announced today that North Queensland Fury will not be participating in the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League.

The decision was determined after considering the financial position of the club for season 2011/12 as too big of a financial risk for FFA to undertake.

Unfortunately, a sufficient amount of capital could not be raised to minimize the financial exposure to FFA.

In making the announcement FFA CEO Ben Buckley acknowledged the work of the Fury CEO Rabieh Krayem and members of the Advisory Board.

“Despite the hard work put in, the target of $1.5m of capital from the Retain the Fury campaign was not met, with less than $300,000 being pledged,” said Mr Buckley.

‘Whilst the Club and the advisory board had attracted some very encouraging sponsorship commitments, the projected loss to run the Club next season is still in our assessment in excess of $2m.

“FFA had been looking for capital from the campaign to set the foundations for a move to local ownership and a long term future for the Club.

“However with the capital-raising falling well short of the target, FFA has had to make the hard decision that it cannot continue to own and finance the Club in these circumstances.”

Mr Buckley said the FFA had a responsibility to all clubs in the Hyundai A-League and funding Fury in excess of $2m reduced the capacity to invest in the A-League as a whole.

“We need to concentrate our resources on the growth, promotion and stability of the entire Hyundai A-League competition and this level of investment would prevent us from undertaking programs to achieve the above,” Mr Buckley said.

“Many leagues around the world have adjusted the composition of clubs in early years and we feel this move will strengthen the Hyundai A-League just as it did for Major League Soccer in the United States and the J-League in Japan.

“We acknowledge the region is an important development area for football and there are some fantastic supporters and FFA remains committed with Football Queensland to nurturing football in North Queensland.

“I would like to thank everybody who supported the Fury including the fans, staff, players sponsors and the Fury Advisory Board.”