The Bakrie Group of Indonesia has been announced as the new owner of A-League champions Brisbane Roar.
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said the announcement was a great result for the club, its supporters and the game in Australia.
"We have been working extremely hard to find the right investors for last year's premiers and we believe we have found fantastic new owners in the Bakrie Group," Buckley said.
"They have a strong background in football through ownership of several other clubs and their interests are in line with our outlook for the Roar.
"Our main priorities were to find investors that would not only provide the club with long term security, but also give the club the best opportunity for continued success."
The Bakrie Group, through its sporting arm Pelita Jaya Cronus, will take a 70 per cent interest in the club under a 10-year licence.
Brisbane's new owners made it clear there was no chance of a repeat of the sensational scenes at Newcastle Jets after throwing their weight behind Roar coach Ange Postecoglou on Friday.
Postecoglou would have been forgiven for feeling anxious in the days following Jets boss Nathan Tinkler's brutal dumping of coach Branko Culina.
But new Brisbane boss Aga Bakrie moved quickly to clarify who would be calling the shots in the Roar football department.
"All sporting and playing matters, Coach Ange has the full support of us," Bakrie said with Postecoglou sitting nearby.
"The management and the board are completely supporting him.
"And after speaking to all the staff and players, coach Ange has been doing a fantastic job."
That is an understatement - with a limited budget Postecoglou groomed the second-last Roar into 2010-11 A-League champions within a season.
Still, Football Federation Australia (FFA) was forced to take back the Roar licence in March.
Seven months later, it seems the sky is the limit for Brisbane thanks to new ownership which has installed FIFA Ethics Committee member Dali Tahir as Roar chairman.
The Bakrie Group has diverse interests in Indonesia and its sporting arm controls an Indonesian Super League club and Belgian second-division side.
FFA retains 30 per cent of the Roar but is hopeful local investors will get on board.
"We are making a long-term commitment to Brisbane Roar," Bakrie said.
"Our vision is to make the Roar Australia's most successful football club."
It was all music to Postecoglou's ears.
"At the end of last season I said 'if I had the money I would buy it' - I don't, by the way, nowhere near it - but the club has built a great foundation over the last 12 months," he said.
"However it needed investment.
"It needed people to take it to the next level.
"My vision when I came to the club was to make it the biggest in Australia, in Asia - I see this as a tremendous opportunity to grow quickly and make something really special."
And he knew exactly where to inject Bakrie's cash first.
Postecoglou said creating a new training, administrative and supporter base was paramount to the future of the Roar, who are currently stationed at Ballymore.
"We need a home. We have worked really hard with this group of players and staff to make it feel like a club but you can't be a club without a home," he said.
"It's not going to happen overnight but for me that would be a number one priority for the near future, somewhere our players and supporters can go and feel like it is theirs."
The Roar kick off their season in an A-League grand final re-match with Central Coast at Lang Park on Saturday night.
AAP
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted October 07, 2011 14:03:29
No comments:
Post a Comment