The financial woes of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a member of the North American Soccer League (NASL), have been well-chronicled over recent months. Multiple reports have relayed repeated late payment of player salaries, most recently earlier this month. Debts owed to outside vendors, including game-day security services, remain unpaid, The club’s Brazilian ownership group, headed by principal owner Paulo Cesso, has reportedly put the Florida-based club up for sale.

Reliable sources with direct knowledge of the situation informed WRALSportsFan that Cesso and the Strikers’ ownership have ceased their funding obligations, necessitating the NASL and its member clubs to consider financing the Strikers for the remainder of 2016 so the club doesn’t halt operations before the end of this season.

The Carolina RailHawks are a member of the NASL.

By the end of August, Cesso and the Strikers’ ownership were still funding player payroll and other team expenses, albeit with the occasional late payments as previously reported by other media outlets. According to sources, that funding was supplemented by more than one cash loan to the Strikers from Bill Edwards, majority owner of the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies.

However, Cesso notified the league that, as of September 1, the Strikers’ ownership could no longer meet their financial obligations for the remainder of 2016. In reaction, the NASL front office proposed to its member clubs that the league fund the Strikers’ remaining 2016 payroll and other necessary expenses, estimated to run between $1.25 million and $1.75 million. The difference mainly accounts for player contracts that run beyond the end of playing season and until the end of the calendar year. That money would be contributed by the league’s members. It would still not cover the already outstanding debts to third-party vendors.

The NASL’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet next week, where they will consider its options regarding the Strikers, which include funding the remaining 2016 financial obligations in the form of a loan to the club. Such a loan obligation would presumably pass to any prospective purchaser of the Strikers, should one be found and ultimately approved by the league.

This Strikers’ news and the upcoming BOG meeting take place amid several other pressing issues facing the NASL, including turmoil surrounding Rayo OKC, the imminent departure of Minnesota United to Major League Soccer, and rumored uncertainty over the future league home of the Ottawa Fury. At the same time, the league’s next expansion franchise, the San Francisco Deltas, is scheduled to debut in 2017.

When the NASL was reached regarding this story, a league spokesperson relayed the following statement: “Whenever a situation arises that requires the attention and support of the League office and its Board, everyone within the NASL rallies together, like any true league would, to work through the situation and try to achieve the best possible outcome. The current status of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers is no different."

Representatives for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers had no comment when contacted.