Clubs are making a "strong push" to abolish the new Australian Football League revenue tax, with Collingwood President Eddie McGuire demanding that "it was time that the AFL finally footed the bill for the competition," according to Denham & Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. The equalization measure has 10 clubs paying into a A$3.1M ($2.4M) pool to be shared "in varying amounts by six financially struggling clubs." McGuire, who has fought the introduction of the revenue impost and whose club faces a A$500,000 ($387,000) tax bill, said, "Now is the time for the AFL to fund the competition and stop draining the clubs of money, initiative, capital and ambition, and stop draining us all into debt." The Western Bulldogs receive the most assistance from the tax -- understood to be more than A$600,000 ($464,000) -- "with St. Kilda, North Melbourne, Brisbane, Melbourne and Port Adelaide also sharing the pool." The "huge anomaly of the system" is that three clubs that contribute -- Carlton, Adelaide and Geelong -- could post combined losses this year of A$3.7M ($2.8M) based on early estimates provided to the league. The Blues will contribute A$250,000 ($193,500) this year and again next year, but could lose as much as A$2.2M ($1.7M) in '15 after a A$1.6M loss last year. Carlton CEO Steven Trigg "called for a review earlier than its present timetable." Trigg: "There are a number of clubs thinking the same way. We want more flexibility in the system -- it’s not nimble enough." Another CEO said, "It’s put a squeeze on the middle-class clubs and it is hurting them." The AFL capped the tax at A$500,000 annually "following an initial push by league executives for a much higher levy." The AFL "defended the process used to introduce the revenue tax" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/17).
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| Source: THE AUSTRALIAN |
