Paju Frontier, with delayed player salaries, faces uncertain participation in next year's K League... City requests support: "Even a portion of the insufficient salary funding"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Paju Frontier FC, a newly established club in the professional football K League 2, failed to pay its players' salaries on time before even completing its first professional season. Paju stated that it has also encountered difficulties with next year's player contracts and requested support from Paju City.

In a statement released on the 13th, Paju said, "The club and the board of directors are taking the salary non-payment situation very seriously, and we deeply feel a sense of responsibility for causing worry and disappointment to players, their families, and fans."

Paju, which stepped onto the K League 2 stage for the first time this year, is facing financial difficulties because it failed to secure sponsorship funds that were originally reflected in its budget. Previously, Hwang Bo-gwan, Paju's manager, explained in a statement on the 15th of last month that the season's budget was allocated at a total of 9 billion won, consisting of 6 billion won in support from Paju City, 500 million won in support from Gyeonggi Province, a self-generated revenue target of 1 billion won, and a regional large enterprise sponsorship target of 1.5 billion won.

However, the anticipated corporate sponsorship did not materialize, and no alternative funding was secured, resulting in a shortfall of approximately 1.5 billion won.

According to Paju, the Korea Professional Football League expressed concern over the club's financial crisis through an official document last month. The league pointed out that Paju City had submitted a financial support guarantee when the club applied for K League membership and enacted the "Ordinance on the Cultivation and Support of Paju City Citizen Professional Football Club" to establish a basis for support. The club explained that it officially requested Paju City to formulate funding measures to normalize club operations.

The club also requested the board of directors to consider a plan to borrow funds externally to pay player salaries. Paju stated, "If Paju City supports even a portion of the insufficient salary funding, we will do our best to secure and resolve the remaining shortfall at the club level."

The club set a goal that if external borrowing is achieved, it would reduce 2027 operating costs, attract sponsors, and increase self-generated revenue to repay the borrowed amount in full.

Paju emphasized, "We will not use the subsidy provided by Paju City for the club's 2027 operations to repay external borrowings," adding, "The subsidy will be executed according to designated purposes and items, and funding for repaying borrowings will be secured independently by the club."

Paju stated that it can no longer delay paying player salaries and appealed to Paju City to jointly formulate a practical support plan, considering the intent of the financial support guarantee at the time of founding and the league's official request.

Eligibility for next year's K League participation is also at stake. According to the club, the league warned in the same document that it could re-review Paju's eligibility for the 2027 season depending on its financial situation and normalization measures. The possibility of the club's license being revoked was also mentioned based on the review results.

The city and the club also had differing positions regarding staff re-contracts. The club reported, "Paju City notified a policy of non-renewal for seven club employees."

At the time of hiring, Paju informed employees that their conversion to regular employment would be decided after work evaluations. Accordingly, the club stated its position that it will review individual labor contract terms and work history, conduct personnel evaluations, and decide on re-contracts and conversion to regular employment.

The club pointed out that the re-contract issue for seven employees is also intertwined with maintaining K League license status. K League 2 clubs must secure 22 personnel. Considering it is a newly established club, Paju is temporarily operating its office with 18 staff members. In this situation, uniformly restricting the re-contracts of seven employees could cause difficulties in securing essential personnel.

Paju also shared legal advice results. The opinion was that restricting re-contracts without reviewing individual contract terms or going through personnel procedures could lead to labor disputes, and the club, as the employer, could bear the resulting legal responsibility.

The club stated, "While considering operational difficulties, matters regarding employee employment should be judged according to laws and club regulations."

Additionally, Paju requested a re-review of Paju City's demand for the dismissal of the manager and deputy manager following specific audit results. Although the order of contract signing and holding the personnel committee meeting was partially reversed when hiring the deputy manager, the club held the personnel committee and received approval from the club owner, and since the deputy manager's concurrent position was also permitted by the chairman, the club maintains that the dismissal demand is excessive.

Paju stated, "We will correct parts that need administrative improvement," while adding, "We request a reasonable and balanced judgment after sufficiently reviewing the nature of the pointed-out issues, the actual administrative procedures carried out, the operational necessity at the time, and the degree of responsibility."

Paju requested Paju City to inform them of the scale of next year's club operating budget and support plans by the 20th. As the delay in salary payments has already caused difficulties in player selection and contracts, it also asked the city to expedite administrative procedures necessary for preparing pre-season training camps.

The club stated, "This is a minimal request for the club to realistically formulate squad composition and season operation plans and to proceed with procedures required for K League participation without issues," adding, "We hope that prompt consultations will take place so that Paju City and the club can each fulfill their roles in preparing for the 2027 season."

Paju will play its last home game of the season against Cheonan City FC at Paju Stadium at 4:30 p.m. on the 22nd.

The club conveyed to fans, "We ask you to join us for the final home game so that players who are doing their best on the field despite difficult circumstances can exert their strength until the very end."

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original