Shakhtar set for audit

Ukrainian champions FC Shakhtar Donetsk are to undertake a complete overhaul of the club’s organisational structure in accordance with UEFA's club licensing system, which comes into effect from the 2004/05 season.

Financial position
The club’s executive director, Yuri Kolotsey, confirmed that president Rinat Akhmetov had ordered an audit as the first step to improving Shakhtar's financial position. He said: "Our aim is to prepare for UEFA's licensing system and we will extend the audit to cover every aspect of the club including personnel, infrastructure and such like."

Audit company hired
Shakhtar's accounts will be audited by an external, independent and qualified auditing company, A.T. Kearney and PricewaterhouseCooper who have vast experience in this area, having carried out audits for Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and Leeds United AFC. The firm's senior expert, Edward Freedman, said: "We have been hired to achieve transparency throughout all activities of the football club."

'One big family'
Freedman added: "We have to ensure that every Shakhtar employee knows exactly what his role is, knows what he is supposed to do and feels a member of the one big family, and that also extends to the supporters."

Excellent training facilities
A.T. Kearney and PricewaterhouseCooper are not exactly improving the affairs of a struggling club as Freedman confirmed after visiting the training facilities. He said: "The training complex conforms to the highest possible standards and Mr Akhmetov wants the rest of the club to reach that level."

Supporters involved
The audit will begin on 10 March and the supporters will be involved from the beginning, taking part in focus groups where they can air their views on the club's performance, as Kolotsey outlined: "We can improve our core business and help us to develop our overall strategic plans for the club."

Player salaries
However, Kolotsey admitted that not every aspect of the club's affairs would be open to the public. He said: "Transparency takes on many aspects and first and foremost we want to meet UEFA's requirements, but we will not be publishing individual player salaries although the overall budget will be there for all to see."

Template for the region
Kolotsey hoped that Shakhtar’s experience would act as a template for the rest of the region. He said: "The experiences of major clubs may not relate to Ukraine, but we can lead the way and develop the blueprint for the rest of eastern Europe.

Modern club
"We are a modern club and we have become more professional in recent years. However, we need this overhaul so that he can become not only a success in Ukraine but also throughout Europe."