The debt of the Football Club Budućnost in August amounted to 2.270.000 euros, revealed the executive director of the Podgorica club, Predrag Kažić, who took office at the time.
The debt was incurred in the months, years, when Buducnost made the largest transfers in history by selling football players.
How, why - is the subject of an investigation by state authorities, and Kažić revealed that he has filed three criminal charges against six people who were in Buducnost, and that a new charge against an organized criminal group is being prepared.
Not only because of the obvious "swindling" with transfers, but also on many other grounds.
Kažić stated that in the meantime, various phantom invoices that were not recorded, claims from agents, had also appeared, and he also stated that there were cases where players were suddenly given a bonus for winning a title when it had already been won - in May of last year.
However, Kažić pointed out that the fact that all of the aforementioned things happened while the club was headed by a management (or managements) appointed by the same city government as it is now is not in his domain.
"I do my job responsibly and conscientiously, and I can look everyone in the eye. I don't know how long I will be in this position, but when I leave, I want to leave a foundation so that someone else who comes will never find what I found," Kažić said.
He also revealed an example of the last "big" sale - Andrija Bulatović, who went to Lens in a transfer worth 1,7 million euros.
Buducnost ultimately received 600 thousand from that - just over 30 percent.
Kažić pointed out that until just before leaving for Lens, Bulatović had a contract under which he was entitled to 20 percent for transfers up to 1.499.999 euros, or 25 percent for over 1.500.000, but that it was then changed.
"A new contract was signed, according to which Bulatović was entitled to 40 or 37,5 percent, depending on the amount. He was sold for 1.700.000 euros, and he received 37,5 percent. Under the new contract, he also received a bonus for the title he had already won, and the agent received 10 percent. When the amount from the Solidarity Fund and taxes is deducted, Budućnost earned 600.000 euros from that transfer," said Kažić, adding that this is part of the criminal report filed with the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
Despite everything, according to Kažić, the club will be at zero by January.
The main part of the budget is covered by the Capital City - two million euros, and the club also has claims against Partizan for the transfer of Andrej Kostić (two more installments of 300 thousand each) as well as an installment from Lans for Bulatović.
Kažić stated that the results are not exemplary for a club of the reputation of Buducnost, but that in sports - especially football - a lot depends on results.
"When you have results, all other things fall into the background."
According to Kažić, the goal of Buducnost must be to qualify for the Conference League, which many clubs from the region have managed to do in recent years.
Kažić also commented on the recent suspensions of the young and talented Lazar Mijović and Lazar Savović, who were removed from the first team because they did not want to revise the contracts signed with the previous management - and to "delete" small clauses for leaving the club.
"We offered Mijović a salary of 7.000 euros per month, a captain's armband and that the game revolves around him, but he did not accept. Yesterday, we received a letter of intent from FK Čukaricki to pay 80.000 euros for him, which is the clause in the contract. We also offered Savović 6.000, but neither he, nor his family, nor his lawyers responded to us. That is why the Board of Directors had to react," said Kažić.
When asked to comment on the general opinion that a good part of the decisions in the club are made according to party, political principles (the latest in a series of dismissals of the director of the youth school Srđan Radonjić - the previous sports director Gavrilo Petrović is "relegated" to his position), Kažić stated that the decisions of the Board of Directors do not fall within his domain as sports director.
"The capital elects the Shareholders' Assembly, and the Shareholders' Assembly elects the Board of Directors. As for specific decisions - each one carries a sporting risk and time will tell whether it was the right one."
In the end - the salary of new coach Miodrag Božović is an investment, not a burden for the club.
"When we compare it to what we expect to get, then it is absolutely acceptable and reasonable."
The future will be prepared in Malaga during the winter.
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