The creditors of the insolvent West-Regionalligisten KFC Uerdingen 05 e.V. have approved the insolvency administrator’s reorganisation plan. The oppressive debts should soon be history. But from a sporting point of view, the club is still threatened with a drop into the top division.
Nearly a year after KFC Uerdingen’s disaster began, it seems to be ending. On Thursday, the creditors of KFC Uerdingen 05 e. V. approved the insolvency plan before the Krefeld district court, and the judge in charge confirmed the proceedings. As a result, the West-Regionalliga club should be debt-free by the end of January. “The new board of directors appointed in the summer can now fully concentrate on the long-term continuation and further consolidation of the club due to the debt cut that has been made,” let Dr. Christoph Niering, insolvency administrator of KFC, announce.
This should also eliminate the last effects of the fatal Mikhail Ponomarev era. The self-proclaimed investor had led the 1985 DFB Cup winners from sporting insignificance to the 3rd league and stopped his payments last year. In the end, KFC was relegated to the regional league because of the financial situation, and the Spielbetriebs-GmbH went bankrupt. In the meantime, even the public prosecutor’s office is investigating on suspicion of subsidy fraud and delaying insolvency.
“Debt-free and without legacy burdens “
The registered association (e. V.) then continued in the regional league, but also had to file for insolvency due to financial entanglements with the former GmbH. Now a new club management with President Damien Raths at the helm is trying to make a fresh start. “The clear vote is a great sign for us that we have been on the right track with our work since the summer,” says Sven Hartmann, the board member responsible for finance in Raths’ team. “We now want to use the opportunity to build up KFC Uerdingen 05 e.V. sustainably, free of debt and without legacy burdens.”
However, the association had immediately deducted nine points from the team because of the renewed insolvency, and KFC appealed against this. With nine points after 21 match days, coach Alexander Voigt’s wildly mixed team at the bottom of the table has little hope of staying in the league. The team could be relegated to the Oberliga. Then KFC would be back where they were before Mikhail Ponomarev.
