New Zealand Football (NZF) and Wellington City Council (WCC) say they have agreed to try and build on the success of the Wellington Phoenix soccer team.
NZF chairman Frank van Hattum said in a statement today's meeting with WCC, which was initiated by NZF, was in no way a 'plan B' for the Phoenix who further boosted the profile of soccer in New Zealand with their run to the A-League preliminary final last season.
Concerns for the future of the club began to grow after it was reported that club owner Terry Serepisos, a property developer, owes the council $2m in unpaid rates and ground lease rentals.
The Dominion Post reported that a bank which holds a mortgage on one of his buildings recently extended Serepisos a loan to allow him to pay the council $900,000.
NZF holds the Phoenix licence to play in the A-League, which it sub-leases to Serepisos.
The council believes this dictates that NZF should take over responsibility should the club fall on hard times, the paper said.
Today's meeting was a forum to discuss how NZF and the council could better support the current structure and development of the game fostered by Wellington Phoenix FC, Van Hattum said.
"It was a constructive discussion that raised a number of possibilities," he said.
"Each party now needs to consider how best to advance these ideas."
Van Hattum wasn't prepared to discuss any proposals but that there were clearly ways in which each party could complement what Wellington Phoenix FC was doing both for soccer across New Zealand, and in Wellington as the club's home base.
