CHRIS Fong will stand down as Brisbane Roar chairman but club owners the Bakrie Group have vowed to restore the ailing three-time A-League champions to a position of power on and off the field.

Bakrie Group senior vice president Fong told The Courier-Mail on Sunday night that he wanted to be part of a Roar board as his company’s representative alongside fresh faces, new investment partners and a new chairman.

But before bringing in new investors, Fong said the Bakrie Group’s priority was fixing the financial mess the Roar currently find themselves in.

The Roar are facing a loss of more than $2.25 million for the 2014-15 financial year and are understood to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

Managing director Sean Dobson parted ways with the club earlier this month, with Fong saying the club’s administration would be overhauled and that auditors and a law firm would help with investigations into the club’s recent financial history.

“The recent events at the club have allowed us to examine exactly what’s been going on,” Fong said from his base in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“What has been found is disturbing, with a significant amount of undisclosed liabilities uncovered that have come as a shock.

“We have taken immediate action to better understand the extent of these liabilities, with forensic auditors and law firm Baker & McKenzie assisting.

“The Bakrie Group remains committed to the Roar. We will remedy the situation and bring the club back to health.”

Fong said part of the reason he was stepping down as chairman was the need for the person in that position to be Brisbane-based.

“As chairman … I wasn’t hands-on. The day-to-day (dealings) are something that I can’t provide based overseas,” he said.

“As a result, the new chairman will be a Brisbane resident who can provide closer oversight.

“(There will be a) new CEO, new chairman and new board members — people with a strong Brisbane background and knowledge.

“We will rally more support from Brisbane’s business and football community as we move forward.

“The Roar’s future is not in doubt, but the model that we had in place needs to be overhauled.

A new mentor to replace interim coach Frans Thijssen will soon be announced.

“The new coach will oversee all aspects of football (and) will play with attacking flair in the true Roar style,” Fong said.

He said the Bakrie Group, who have owned the club since September 2011, were in talks with potential Roar investors and were open to discussions with other interested parties.

“The intention always was to share (the ownership) around a bit. We’re still going through that. There is a lot of interest … I’ve got an open door,” Fong said.

“But our priority is, regardless of what happens if we bring investors or partners in, going through a process of fixing the club now, not waiting for that to happen.

“What’s clear is before anybody wants to come in, we need to clean up all this stuff we’ve uncovered and make sure the club is sustainable, healthy and financially viable.

“To do that we need to change the system and re-inject capital to fix it.”