Embattled former A-League champions Western United have been handed a survival lifeline after a request to review a court decision to wind up the club was upheld late on Friday.
Court officials had rejected an attempt by a new creditor to take on the club's debt earlier in the day and ordered Western United be shuttered, but the 2022 title winners issued a statement advising a pause had been granted.
"The winding up has been stayed pending an application to review the court's decision substantively and once that application is made next week, the stay will operate until the appeal is heard," the statement read.
The club's future has been in doubt since Football Australia revoked their licence to play in the A-League at the start of August due to an inability to pay employees' salaries and an outstanding debt to the Australian tax authorities. An appeal of that decision will be heard on September 2.
A plan put forward to buy the club by a U.S-based property company was withdrawn on Wednesday on the eve of a federal court hearing regarding Western United's outstanding debts.
According to Australian media, a late offer to provide the funds to clear the club's debt was submitted by new creditor J.C. Capital on the condition that the A-League licence be restored. That proposal was rejected by the court, although the later decision to grant a stay until the appeal is heard means the club can continue to operate in the short term. Western United finished third in the A-League standings last year. Fixtures for the new season, which is scheduled to kick off on Oct. 17, have yet to be announced.
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