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Embattled sporting entrepreneur Jason Sourasis has been shut out of any involvement in the A-League soccer team Western United and the development of a sporting precinct in Melbourne’s west as his plans for a 20,000-seat stadium go up in smoke.
Sourasis declined to comment on his future at the club or with the project on Wednesday, but sources close to him and the project team confirmed he would step aside after an issue with tax debts had been resolved.
Jason Sourasis will soon step aside from his role within Western United.Credit: Western United
It comes as high-profile investors line up against Sourasis, alleging significant unpaid debts.
This week, leading financier Ozzie Kheir said he was owed a substantial amount of money from Sourasis, and the entrepreneur’s longtime friend, Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury, has taken him to court, accusing him of misappropriation.
Pendlebury alleges nearly $3 million of his funds were misappropriated from his bank account by Sourasis and his company, Strategic Financial Planning.
Sourasis denies the allegations.
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Representatives for Western United and the development project met with Wyndham City Council on Tuesday to discuss a new path forward for a site on Melbourne’s western fringe, which had been earmarked as a sport, health and entertainment complex centred around a stadium for the A-League club.
Sourasis did not attend the meeting where the plans were drastically changed to include an oval for cricket and AFLW as well as an aquatic centre.
The drastic recut of the project was revealed at a meeting between the project partners and Wyndham council last night.
Western United and the project has been financially stricken after being hit by an $8 million bill from the Australian Tax Office over unpaid debts.
Both the club and the project holding company have so far avoided being formally placed into liquidation over the debts as the people involved work to present a solution to resolve its financial difficulties.
The club, where Sourasis is chairman, has been placed into “hibernation” and will not compete in the A-League this year as it fights to stay afloat.
Western United announced in September that project partner Johnson Control had agreed to pay the tax debt as a way for the project and the club to move forward.
Sourasis is also being sued personally by the ATO over unpaid tax debts. However, much of that debt is a director penalty notice for taxes that were not paid by the club or the project group.
Two sources told this masthead that Sourasis’ involvement at the club would officially come to an end when the tax debts issue was resolved.
He maintains a position as a director, but the project will undergo a restructure, which effectively cuts him out of the governing role.
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