OSTERSUND, Sweden (AP) - Swedish soccer team Ostersund says former manager Graham Potter has made a “big contribution” of cash to help keep the club in business amid severe financial problems.
Ostersund said Potter, who was manager from 2010-18 and now coaches Brighton in the English Premier League, teamed up with his backroom staff and sent the money to his old club on Tuesday.
Ostersund, which plays in Sweden’s top league, recently said it needed to raise 10 million kronor ($1 million) to pay creditors and tax authorities in order to continue operating.
On Tuesday, that figure was down to 4.3 million kronor ($430,000). The club said it has a debt of 1.4 million kronor to the Swedish Tax Agency “which must be resolved quickly.”
Under Potter, Ostersund rose from the amateur ranks in 2011 to Sweden’s top league in 2015, and won the Swedish Cup in 2017. That qualified Ostersund for the Europa League, where it advanced to the knockout stage before losing to Arsenal despite winning the second leg 2-1 at Emirates Stadium.
Potter moved to Swansea in the English second tier last season and joined Brighton this offseason.
The man who hired Potter and is regarded as the mastermind behind Osterdund’s rise, former chairman Daniel Kindberg, was recently in court in Sweden accused of serious financial crimes. Kindberg is said to have helped funnel millions of kronor in taxpayer money into the club in a scheme that involved two other men and three companies, one being the Ostersund municipality’s housing corporation for which Kindberg was chief executive.
Kindberg denies the accusations. The verdict is set to be announced on Nov. 5, and Ostersund could lose its place in the Swedish top flight if Kindberg is found guilty.
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