Owners back away from selling Roar as Celtic circle

Brisbane Roar's owners the Bakrie Group have declared the club is not for sale, despite recent expressions of interest from Scottish giants Celtic and a Russian consortium.

Brisbane Roar

Brisbane Roar Source: Getty Images

The Indonesian conglomerate have pumped around $30 million into the Roar during a turbulent six-year tenure as partial and then outright owners of the three-time A-League champions.

But after the most recent shake-up of the club's managerial structures, vice-chairman Chris Fong is adamant that despite a rocky ownership path, owner Nirwan Bakrie is "committed" to the club and no sale has been, or is being, entertained.

"We have an advisory board made up of Brisbane professionals who are helping (recently restored managing director) David Pourre and (chief financial officer) Faisal Ariel Subandi get the club back on track," said Fong, the former chairman who returned in October in his new role following the sacking of of managing director Mark Kingsman.

"I know there’s been talk in the market (of interest in the club) but I haven’t seen any concrete offers.

"We are committed to growing the club and building on past successes, and the Roar is not for sale."

While Fong would not confirm it, it's understood that a delegation from the Scottish champions, initially linked with buying into the Central Coast Mariners, visited Brisbane last month for preliminary discussions.

While viewing Australia as a promising talent pathway which might produce another Tom Rogic or two, the Glasgow club are unlikely to make any formal offer for any Australian club until a new operating model for an ailing A-League is finalised.

The interest in Brisbane from a Russian group represented by leading player agent Buddy Farah emerged in October with an offer of $10 million to take ownership, and relieve the Bakries of what has often seemed a burden to them with missed player payments and other financial travails over the past three years.

Farah said the offer was roundly rejected, after several weeks of discussions involving Nirwan Bakrie.

It's understood Brisbane's valuation at that point was close to $20 million.


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2 min read
Published 11 December 2017 11:44am
By Dave Lewis

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