Canada Bay: Footy club with ties to mayor Angelo Tsirekas to license Majors Bay Reserve soccer pitch

A soccer organisation whose directors donated to the mayor of a Sydney council is set to be given license of a publicly funded $7 million synthetic pitch.

Majors Bay Reserve in Concord: the synthetic pitch and facilities cost $6.9 million and was funded jointly by the state government and Canada Bay council. Picture: Ben Williams

A soccer organisation whose directors donated to a Sydney mayor will be given license to run a $7m publicly funded synthetic pitch, which has been closed since last year.

Canada Bay Council is considering entering a licensing lease agreement for the synthetic pitch and amenities of Majors Bay Reserve, at Concord, for at least five years with Canada Bay Football Institute.

The proposed lease would cover training, matches and associated activities, including those which may require bookings, and the company would collect any profit.

Public access would be facilitated “outside of the agreement” at the discretion of the company.

The CBFI is a private company and a business partnership between two local soccer clubs: Inter Lions and Concord Juniors.

Disclosures made on the NSW Electoral Commission reveal club committee members, in some cases “on behalf of the club(s)”, donated to the local election campaigns of Canada Bay mayor Angelo Tsirekas as far back as 2014. Some of these donations were made by two CBFI co-directors.

Mayor Angelo Tsirekas (centre) at Majors Bay Reserve during the construction phase.

The donations – lodged with the NSWEC as either individual items, or enclosed within fundraising events disclosures – total in excess of $3000.

The pitch was closed to the public in late last year after vandalism, and was joint funded by council and the state government to a tune of $6.9m.

A Canada Bay spokeswoman confirmed “a public-tender process was not required for this license” and the CBFI was considered “an appropriate organisation”.

The CBFI helped lobby and secure part of the funding for the pitch. The licence was made under section 47 of the Local Government Act.

“The licence fee is yet to be determined, with a formal decision to be made at a future council meeting,” she said.

The spokeswoman said any agreement would be for “non-exclusive use of the ground” but any profit would go to the clubs.

“It is understood that any excess funds held by the CBFI at the end of a financial year are distributed between Concord and Inter Lions,” she said.

“Under the proposed licence, the licensee may run activities that require bookings or registrations.”

The $6.9m facilities and synthetic pitch at Majors Bay Reserve. Picture: Supplied

It is unclear how often the CBFI would use the facilities and the amount of public access to be available.

The council spokeswoman declined to comment on the mayor’s role in the process or if council knew of the political donations.

The mayor was asked whether he disclosed the donations to council and whether he had any role in the license process, but declined to comment.

Inter Lions management said, when questioned about the donations, “the matter is of a personal nature and should not be addressed to the Inter Lions Football Club”. However, disclosures show donations made by a committee member – and co-director of the CBFI – also included the name of the club.

A Concord Juniors spokesman said the “club has not and would not make donations to any party or campaign”.

A note on the gates of the reserve highlighting the intention to license the facilities to the CBFI.

“The club is not aware of any donations made at a personal level by any committee member, or other volunteer type, and neither is it our business other than to ensure that there is no activity that could bring the club into disrepute,” he said.

However, on fundraising forms seen by this publication, the donation lists as being “on behalf of Concord Soccer” although it is unclear if it was made with the authority – or the funds – of the club.

The CBFI were contacted about their plans for the facility but hadn’t responded at the time of publication.

Public submissions regarding the proposal close on Friday.

The council spokeswoman said the ground would be available for public use from this Saturday onwards, “unless it was being used by the licensee, a booked event, or undergoing maintenance”.

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