By Samindra Kunti
March 23 -The arbitration committee of the Belgian FA, the KBVB, has decided that Royal Antwerp FC must repay €4.9 million to its former chairman Eddy Wauters. The verdict leaves Antwerp gasping for air.
Antwerp is Belgium’s oldest club with matriculate number one. English students, residing in the port city, founded the club in 1880. ‘The Great Old’ were Belgian champions four times, winning a last title in 1957.
The club has been in decline though since the late 90’s, playing mostly in the second division, the Proximus League. Antwerp is mired in debts.
Patrick Decuyper, an entrepreneur and former CEO of top-flight club Zulte Waregem, stepped in as new majority shareholder in 2015. Decuyper was the driving force behind Zulte Waregem’s youth academy, Essevee Soccer School. He considers Antwerp’s urban environment to be fertile football ground.
“I’m going to save Antwerp and make it a wonderful club again along with a lot of people, with all the fans,” said Decuyper at the time.
But the money Wauters spent on the club during his reign as chairman is coming back to haunt Antwerp. Wauters was ousted by Antwerp’s previous strongmen Gunther Hofmans and Jos Verhaegen. As an exile, Wauters has now extracted compensation from the club.
The KBVB’s arbitration committee has ruled in favor of the former chairman.
“There is justice, so I am rather pleased,” reacted Wauters. “The whole of Antwerp knew that I had put this money into the club. For three years I have had to put my time in this claim and face criticism. Antwerp just wanted to rob me.”
“If I say I am disappointed, it’s an understatement,” said Antwerp chairman Jan Michel.
Decuyper expressed his surprise, but vowed to consider further action after consultation with his legal counsel. He accused Wauters of having mismanaged the club for years.
Antwerp top the table of Belgium’s second division on 57 points, six more than second-placed Eupen.
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