Thanks to the $2 million, a new grandstand, player change rooms, support rooms, improved lighting and a car park were all planned. But almost five years on there are no seats in the grandstand, the change rooms cannot be used, and the same pebbly car park remains. An independent project manager has quoted another $520,000 to complete the project. What’s more, questions abound about the circumstances in which the federal government granted the $2m. Anthony Albanese with former Oporto owner Antonio Cerqueira. Credit:Celio Agostinho On the government’s side, the funding agreement was signed off by the federal Office of Sport. On the Fraser Park side, it was signed by two “directors” of the Sydney Portugal Community Club: Antonio Cerqueira, the founder and former owner of the now-troubled Oporto chicken and burger chain, and John Macy. But while they were long-standing volunteers, neither Mr Cerqueira nor Mr Macy, were ever registered as directors of the club. Today, the club itself is still struggling with the implications of the grant. Unable to complete the playing surface using the federal government funds, it had to take out a $500,000 NAB loan in July 2014, of which only $35,000 has been repaid.

“In the football world the club is a joke to everyone,” says the Sydney Portugal Community Club’s newest director Miguel Vairinhos. “It had the $2m to build something fantastic and it did nothing – everyone can see it.” The saga of the million dollar grant and its impact on the club, reflects the difficulty faced by a local community club in receipt of a sudden windfall. The unfinished grandstand at Fraser Park Football Club. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer On the telling of Mr Vairinhos and the current directors, the Portuguese institution not only struggled to manage the development, but also failed to organise its finances, from the social club, to its junior and senior football teams. Which all begs a few questions: why was the club given $2m? Why did the federal government hand over $2m to an organisation whose “directors” were not listed as such? What processes were followed to make, and to check on, the grant?

They’re questions about which neither the former Office of Sport, Mr Albanese, nor Ms Lundy have offered answers. Political grandstanding With an ageing base of members paying $11 a year, the SPCC or social club has struggled to maintain relevance in recent years. Meanwhile the football club, formerly run by a separate sub-committee, has enjoyed more stability: parents have previously paid up to $2400 a year for their children to represent the Fraser Park team. The unfinished grandstand at Fraser Park Football Club. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

But despite its growth, the football club’s facilities have not kept pace. So the future looked bright when a $2m grant arrived from the now-defunct Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport in 2013. The grant was awarded in three instalments to “the Sydney Portugal Club Limited trading as Fraser Park Football Club,” following an application made by Fraser Park, “with the approval of the SPCC Board,” and a grandstand steering committee was formed. While Mr Cerqueira was the president of the football club, there are no records to support that he or Mr Macy were ever “director” or “director/secretary” of the Sydney Portugal Club as they are represented. Under Australian corporations law a multi-director company may execute a document if it is signed by two appointed directors of the company, or a director and a secretary of the company. A company can however appoint a person to sign documents by granting a power of attorney or giving written authority, documented by a company minute.

“We saw our role as the people who were going to administer the money therefore we were the people to sign it. It was not an intent to defraud,” Mr Macy told Fairfax Media, on behalf of himself and Mr Cerqueira. “We had many meetings with the president of the [social club]...I doubt if any minutes were kept... That is not the way they operated and I doubt if they even kept minutes of their SPCC board meetings.” However, meeting minutes from the steering committee, spanning almost three years, now reveal the infighting between the two clubs, including an attempt by the social club to take over the entire project from the steering committee. Internal documents also allege the social club’s then-president paid unapproved invoices with remaining funds, which may have breached the terms of the agreement. “Everything is accounted for and every cent spent on the grandstand construction has an invoice in the SPCC’s financial record. Every cheque paid contained two signatures, one from the football club and one from the president of the SPCC,” Mr Macy said. At the completion of each stage of the project a milestone report, “including all financial statements,” was completed for the federal government and two site visits were carried out. “We acted in good faith at all times to convert a dust bowl football field and falling down old grandstand into something the community could benefit from.”

Mr Macy said, for many years, the football club was propped up financially by the social club. But the arrival at the club of Mr Cerqueira in 2011 brought with it an influx of new sponsorship and funding. “It was run more professionally than the club itself... there was a fear the football club would want to take over the social club.” Mr Macy said there had long been a culture of corruption in the [social] club, so “when it came to that amount of money that same culture wasn't going to be allowed to prevail.” "When the SPCC declared they were taking over the project that is when my involvement ceased." Whistleblower Former club parent and volunteer treasurer Trevor Adams agrees “factions and gossip” plagued the two clubs, but says he would not describe either as “professional.”

“I was shocked at the petty in-fighting at committee level,” he said, adding that he was accused of “being an agent of the nanny-state” when he raised concerns. "Where was the proper governance in executing documents and financial practices? Culpable in my opinion is the federal government not checking on who in the club was in charge of implementing all of these things effectively. No one completed a proper person check or even monitored governance in any way shape or form.” Mr Adams claims he witnessed deliberate mismanagement of funds in the 2015-2016 season, including $217,387 in undeclared cash income that he had reported as treasurer, which was not lodged with ASIC. Around a third of the football club expenses were paid in cash, which Mr Adams was responsible for retaining. He recalls holding “at least $60,000 cash” from youth registration fees and canteen takings in an antique cupboard at home. Mr Adams has reported his findings with Football NSW, Football Federation Australia, the National Integrity of Sport Unit, the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian and police. Changing of the guard By May last year the entire board membership had changed, following the election of the current social club president Miguel Vairinhos in September 2016.

“I had no idea what I was walking into. At this time there was the sub-committee running the soccer, but there was no proper structure... no paperwork,” said Mr Vairinhos, adding that a large portion of the football club’s operations were handled in cash. “For the grandstand, the only thing that has been built is the frame. The car park, the fencing, the toilets, locker rooms and drainage aren’t done. We currently don’t have enough power to run the club lights and the grandstand.” Miguel Vairinhos, is the new president of the Sydney Portugal Community Club and Fraser Park Football Club which has previously been managed badly. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Mr Vairinhos said an “aggressive” culture had previously existed at the club, alleging there was even an attempt made to stop him looking into the grandstand and the soccer operations in March 2017. He said he was alone in the club late one evening when seven men knocked at the door and entered, before one of the men grabbed him by the collar. “He looked me in the eyes and told me, 'Stop looking at the soccer and the grandstand',” and then they left.”

Last year an independent audit of the grandstand project found around $2.3 million had been spent on the project so far, including the funding grant and a $75,000 contribution from Mr Cerqueira. The auditor found another $519,800 was required to complete the development. “That is absolute rubbish,” Mr Macy said. “It was always going to be tight, our estimates were around $3 million. We said we will try and build ourselves using the cheapest possible labour we could get.” It was a question of “what can we achieve with the money we have left,” he said “and Mr Cerqueira chipped in the rest to get us to approval level.” He also estimated a cost blowout of $400,000, after the discovery of a high voltage cable owned by Railcorp. The Department of Health, which oversaw the issue of the grant instalments, said it could not comment on initial processes as the former Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport undertook the negotiations. “The grant has been acquitted on the basis of an independent auditor’s report and all monies were spent in accordance with the contract...No concerns were raised by the auditor. The Community Club has not contacted the Department regarding the execution of the funding agreement.”

The Herald asked Ms Lundy and Mr Albanese, about how the grant was awarded, its criteria, and the checks and balances in place. “I am always pleased when local sporting facilities used by the community receive support, including Fraser Park, which now has a playing surface which is in constant use,” Mr Albanese said. Ms Lundy declined to comment. For many in Sydney’s Portuguese community, what should have been an exciting asset has become a disappointment, Mr Vairinhos said. “It took the [club’s] credibility... we lost a lot of members. We are trying to change the reputation of the club, give it credibility and transparency. I think that is the only way things will move forward.” Do you know more? Email lucy.cormack@fairfaxmedia.com.au