MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - West Siberian side Tom Tomsk has not paid its players since the start of the Russian season in March and the club is in danger of becoming a victim of the financial crisis, a business daily said on Friday.
"The problem with debts is sufficiently serious and so far has not been resolved," Tom Tomsk general director Yury Stepanov told Kommersant. "However, none of the players have spoken to me about boycotting the [mid-season] training camp."
"It wouldn't be in their interests to do so. There they can prepare for the rest of the season and keep in form so as to move to another club if it comes to that," he added.
Although Stepanov did not specify the amount owed to the players, the paper said its information suggested the figure was around $5 million.
The club's financial position depends entirely on the outcome of talks with potential sponsor Tomskneft. The oil company's shares are divided between Gazprom Neft, the oil producing arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, and Rosneft, Russia's largest state-run oil company.
Tomskneft was the club's sponsor until 2006, when the team began to be financed from the Tomsk Region budget. However, the financial crisis has meant that funds for the team have been cut.
"Tomskneft top managers are ready to support the club, but the shareholders are against it," Tomsk Region governor Viktor Kress told the paper. "Moreover, if Gazprom Neft's stance is more or less constructive, then talks with Rosneft are extremely tough going."
Tom Tomsk manager Valery Nepomnyashchi said that the issue of wage delays was having a negative effect on the players' performances. A 2-1 defeat at home to Amkar at the weekend left the side, Europe's most easterly top flight club, two places and four points off the relegation zone.
"The situation is close to critical," he told the Sport Dyen Za Dnyem paper.
Levels of debt at clubs across Europe are raising concerns at the highest levels, with English Premier League clubs owing a total of $5 billion and UEFA president Michel Platini calling Real Madrid's $130 million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo "excessive."
Earlier this year, players at Spanish club Valencia - who will play in UEFA's Europa League next season after finishing sixth in La Liga - went unpaid for two months before a short-term loan was agreed. The club reportedly has debts in excess of half a billion dollars and is expected to sell its best players - notably Spanish international striker David Villa - in the summer.
