Soccer: Serepisos '100pc' committed to Phoenix

Terry Serepisos.

Under fire Wellington Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos is "100 per cent" confident the A-League soccer club is here to stay, and he is banking on a new broadcasting deal to potentially post a profit beyond next season.

Inland Revenue has filed court papers seeking $3.58 million in unpaid taxes from Serepisos and has applied to liquidate five of his companies, including Century City Football, which owns the club, which is reported to owe $1.5m in PAYE tax deductions, GST, and KiwiSaver contributions.

Formal proceedings to apply for liquidation were filed with the High Court last month and the application will be heard on December 13, but Serepisos said the debt would be paid before then.

"It's going to be paid in the next couple of weeks," he told Radio Sport today.

"Do we owe taxes? Yes. Are they going to be paid? Yes.

"These liquidation proceedings are part of the process (Inland Revenue) have to go through. They are very well aware that this is going to be resolved and how it is going to be resolved, and we are comfortable it is going to be resolved."

In September, ACC moved to liquidate the football team for $261,000 in outstanding payments. Wellington and Hutt city councils have substantial outstanding rates claims against properties owned by Serepisos, a Wellington property developer.

Last month he reached an out-of-court deal to settle $8.95 million owed to Canterbury Mortgage Trust.

Despite freely admitting to cashflow problems in the current recession, and losing up to $1.5 million a season over the first three years of the Phoenix, he remained committed to the club.

"I'm 100 per cent supportive of the Phoenix. There won't be any issues in two to three weeks time," he said.

"It's absolutely true that these are challenging times, there has been a world recession out there. I think a lot of people do not appreciate that it costs approximately $400,000 a month to run the Phoenix. I'm single-handedly doing that, nobody else has come forward.

"I made a decision 3.5 years ago, I made a commitment to the public of Wellington and New Zealand and I'm certainly not backing down from that.

"The supporters of the Phoenix, especially the Yellow Fever, have been incredible.

"Am I crazy? Maybe, but it's no better to have a smile on your face when 5000 kids turn up pre-season. Is it worth it? Yes, it is for me."
He said the introduction of a new A-League broadcasting rights deal from next year would see the Phoenix break even.

"I'm taking the brunt of it but heading into next year the television rights will mean we at least break even, if not make money, and I'm hanging my hat on that."

Serepisos said he had not actively sought potentially investors to help alleviate the financial strain but he was open to offers.

"If other parties want to come and talk to me about investing with the Phoenix, they are more than welcome. Please come and see me, I'm all ears."

- NZPA