Merani-91 hit by pay ultimatum

Cash-strapped Georgian club FC Merani-91 Tbilisi have been given seven days to pay their players or face "harsh action" from the country's football authorities.

Financial crisis
The club appear to be imploding under the weight of a major financial crisis with chairman David Purtseladze threatening to resume the season by fielding a youth team. Purtseladze has already sacked vice-president Anzor Mamaladze and coach Otar Gabelia, while players and staff have appealed to the Georgian Football Federation to intervene after going three months without wages.

'Harsh action'
GFF general secretary Valery Cholaria said: "I have met Mr Purtseladze and I did my best to protect the players' rights. We gave the club a week to pay wages, otherwise we will take harsh action." In order to ease Merani-91's financial burden, the FFG will allow the club to delay the payment of appearance fees.

Success at a price
Merani-91 went into the Georgian Premier League's winter break third in the table and it is this success on the field which has been blamed for their money troubles. "Our financial problems indeed originated from our victories, as we had to spend more money on bonuses, which we did not expect," admitted vice president Mamaladze.

Internal problems
Mamaladze himself is at loggerheads with Purtseladze over his sacking, arguing that as a 25 per cent stakeholder in the club he cannot be dismissed without a meeting of shareholders. The FFG has said it will not intervene in the club`s internal problems. "We will not deal with the conflict between two groups of shareholders, let them use the civil court for that," explained Cholaria.

Youth team
As a result of the crisis, Purtseladze, who represents Merani-91's Russian owners, has warned that the majority of players will not restart the league campaign. Instead, a youth team called Goleador could effectively become the new Merani-91 when the winter break ends in March. Sacked head coach Gabelia said: "They call themselves Merani-91 playing friendlies in Turkey, and we can't even get together for training in Georgia."