IFK Gothenburg in tax inquiry

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The First Division club could be forced to pay EU 167,000 in unpaid taxes following an enquiry into the purchases of players Stefan Selakovic and Peter Ijeh. The country’s tax authorities inquire allegations that the club attempted to avoid incurring tax on signing-on fee payments. The enquiry could lead to relegation from the top flight.

"It's a near catastrophe for the club if somebody has been fiddling around," Club Chairman Bengt Halse told media. "But we are not making any conclusions before we've heard those who are said to be involved and I'm not worrying about a relegation. The way we see it is that the club has not done anything criminal. We deeply regret that we are being seen in this context and we hope that the ongoing investigation will be over as soon as possible. If the authorities come to another conclusion we will deal with the consequences then." Chairman Mats Persson and financial director Jan Nilsson have temporarily stepped down from their duties, and the club arranged a press conference but failed to clear up many of the questions answered by the tax authorities, partly because Nilsson and Persson did not turn up. “I didn’t feel like going,” said Nilsson. “The decision to leave my post has been taken after everything that has happened following the accusations. At the moment it is not possible for me to do my job because of all the attention. But I would like to come back to work for IFK.”