As players waited anxiously on Monday for missing salaries for the month of August to land in their bank accounts, it's believed a number of key squad members are assessing their options as the club's Indonesian owner, the embattled Bakrie Group, intensifies efforts to offload the franchise.
Promised wages – already nine days late - had still not cleared players’ bank accounts on Monday at midday.
However, club officials were confident that all outstanding sums would be fully paid by the end of the day on the back of a pledge from the Bakrie Group.
Players had received only 50 percent of their entitlements so far this month, while other staff members had been paid as little as 20 per cent.
A club spokesman insisted he had no knowledge of any players looking to exit the club, explaining: "The players are working hard and training well. They all seem quite happy.
"They have a break next week and then they've got three pre-season games, and that's where their focus is."
It’s the second time in three months that salaries have been late as Bakrie senior vice president and Roar chairman Chris Fong remains in Europe seeking to conclude the sale of the club.
It’s been mooted that the mystery potential investor could be Belgian billionaire Roland Duchatelet, who paid $28 million to add English championship team Charlton Athletic to his portfolio of clubs in February 2014.
The former owner of Standard Liege, Duchatelet built his wealth through an electronics empire and is Belgium's richest man. He also controls fourth tier German club FC Carl Zeiss Jena and second tier Spanish club AD Alcorcon.
Fong declined to reply when contacted by The World Game for clarification on possible talks with potential buyers for the three-time A-League champion, which is thought to worth around $8 million.
It's believed though that the Bakries are seeking in excess of that figure.
But FFA could yet step in a seize back control of the franchise, as it did with the Newcastle Jets, unless it receives cast iron guarantees from the Bakries that they will fufill the terms and conditions of their licence.
Non-payment to players puts clubs in a vulnerable position with its squad members also.
Players can put clubs on notice for a financial breach of the standard player contract, leaving clubs two weeks to remedy the situation. If that isn’t done, one option players have is to terminate their contracts.
Roar players are still owed significant amounts of unpaid superannuation.
The Bakries only avoided Supreme Court action by former landlords the Queensland Rugby Union last week by paying a debt of more than $60,000 for the hiring of Ballymore as its training base.
FFA has urged the debt-ridden Conglomerate to expediate the sale of the club as a matter of urgency.
FFA told The World Game, “FFA has been informed by Brisbane Roar that funds provided by The Bakrie Group allowed the club to finalise all player payments from the August payroll, which was due to be paid on August 15.
“FFA will be meeting with representatives of the Bakrie Group this week regarding the ownership of Brisbane Roar and the status of the proposed sale.”
