AFL agent turned soccer boss’ legal and tax troubles threaten Western United rescue deal

Former top AFL player agent turned A-League boss Jason Sourasis is fighting a series of business battles that could scupper a rescue deal for his financially embattled club Western United, which has been late paying player wages again.

This masthead can reveal that Sourasis has been hit with a near $3 million personal tax bill via a director penalty notice from the ATO for unpaid taxes across six of his businesses, including the companies underpinning the A-League finalists.

Former AFL player agent turned A-League boss Jason Sourasis is fighting a series of business battles.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis

The tax office is also seeking to have liquidators appointed to five of those entities, including the football club. Sourasis is contesting those claims.

Sourasis’ business partner at Western United, former Socceroos star Steve Horvat, has also been hit with a $10 million personal tax bill from the ATO.

The bulk of that bill – or $7.8 million – stems from a director penalty notice issued to Horvat, who oversees the soccer program at the John Aloisi-coached club, for unpaid taxes by the company that operates the soccer club – Western United Football Club Ltd.

The County Court entered a default judgment against Horvat in mid-May ordering him to pay the $10 million.

Tax troubles are not the end of the financial battles for Sourasis, who once managed an AFL player agency that represented footy stars including Buddy Franklin, Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan.

Late last month, lenders took possession of a beachside development site in Seaford and appointed controllers over a company overseen by Sourasis – a situation he is working to quickly unwind.

Sourasis is also separately defending a lawsuit brought against him in the Federal Court by longtime co-investor George Koulouris.

Koulouris alleges he is owed several million dollars in repayments for loans and investments in more than 10 businesses overseen by Sourasis, including Western United.

Western Melbourne Group chairman Jason Sourasis at the club’s Ironbark Fields complex in Tarniet. Credit: Jason South

He also claims in court documents that Sourasis engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in their dealings, allegations that Sourasis denies.

Sourasis’ personal financial troubles come just seven weeks after Western United trumpeted a rescue deal from US investment house KAM Sports worth $100 million.

In the months leading up to that deal, troubles at the club had been widely reported, including that it had been struggling to pay its staff as it headed into the A-League finals after finishing the season third on the ladder.

The KAM bailout includes a commitment from the billionaire family behind KAM Sports, the Kaminskis, to build a stadium in Tarneit and a new sporting hub for the fringe suburbs as part of a public-private partnership with the local council.

The deal – which will cover the club’s tax debts, claims from other creditors and player wages– still requires regulatory approval from the league’s governing body and Wyndham City Council, and is subject to a range of requirements from KAM Sports.

In the weeks since the deal was announced, the club has again been late paying wages to players in its men’s and women’s teams.

On June 20, the players’ union, Professional Footballers Australia, lodged fresh breach notices on behalf of several players. The notices allow players to void their contracts, become free agents and seek sanctions against the club if their wages are not met within 14 days. The club is also subject to a ban from FIFA in signing any new players due to its financial issues.

As the deal inches towards completion, Sourasis has been keen to keep a lid on his legal and financial challenges.

WMG Group plans to develop the vacant land around its stadium in Tarneit, west of Melbourne.Credit: Jason South

In May, he sought to extend interim suppression orders over documents in the Federal Court case brought against him by Kouroulis, citing the risk to the deal from adverse publicity.

Sourasis told the court in an affidavit that he believed a suppression order was necessary because “the investor [KAM Sports] might become concerned by adverse publicity and [that] might prejudice the investor’s willingness to complete the deal with WMG Group and Sayers Road”.

He added: “Although the investor has now executed transaction documents, I still hold such a concern because any adverse publicity might either constitute a ‘material adverse change’ or might otherwise cause the investor to exercise rescission rights under a condition precedent that the investor might otherwise have waived”.

However, Justice Sarah Derrington refused Sourasis’ request to keep the case under wraps until after mediation had been completed, noting that the deal had been publicly announced and Sourasis had told the court the Kaminskis were aware of the lawsuit.

The financial and legal battles of Sourasis and Western United highlight the difficulties in starting a new sporting franchise (and a major public-private partnership) at a time when distributions from sporting codes for broadcast rights have been slashed, club running costs have increased, and crowd numbers are below expectations.

Sourasis was for many years one of the unofficial bigwigs of Melbourne, overseeing the city’s biggest AFL player agent group – Strategic Management Australia AFL – with business partner Liam Pickering.

The pair’s business relationship soured in 2014 after Pickering poached the firm’s top clients to set up his own sports representation agency, igniting a fiery legal battle.

In the past decade, Sourasis has remodelled himself as a soccer kingpin, securing the licence for an A-League team based in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs in late 2018.

Steve Horvat in late 2018 following the announcement that Western United had picked up one of the new licences offered under the league’s expansion.Credit: Eddie Jim

A key plank of Sourasis’ plans for Western United is the development of the stadium and surrounding sporting complex in Tarneit. The ambitious plan has been re-cut several times to bring in new investors, some of whom hope to be paid out by the KAM Sports deal.

While the cash injection is expected to provide a boost to Sourasis’ plans, it might not be able to immediately stave off all of his financial strains.

The ATO’s director penalty notice to Sourasis includes $1.5 million in unpaid taxes owed by four companies not apparently related to the club, which would likely not be covered by the KAM Sports deal.

Court documents show Sourasis is also planning to use some of KAM Sports’ money to pay back loans he allegedly owes to Koulouris for the Tarneit project and the A-League club.

However, Koulouris’ claim – which is yet to be tested in court – includes requests for repayment from a range of other unrelated developments. Sourasis is defending the action and has argued Koulouris is wrong about how much he is owed.

Sourasis was sent a list of detailed questions about the club’s business issues, as well as his own.

In a statement he said: “We are looking forward to closing out the transaction with KAM Sports and adding both expertise and capital to the Western Melbourne Group. All outstanding creditors, including the ATO, are aware of the last remaining steps for approval, and all our obligations will be met once the deal completes.

“We’re excited about the future, and the injection of capital will help us accelerate the delivery of our vision to build a city underpinned by sports health and wellness in Melbourne’s west.”

He added that he had interests in many businesses unrelated to Western Melbourne Group and Western United.

“We are in negotiations with the ATO in relation to a couple of businesses that ceased trading during the pandemic and we expect to reach an amicable outcome shortly,” Sourasis said.

Horvat also told this masthead the club was looking forward to completing the KAM Sports deal.

“It’s obviously a complicated and structured deal. We’re just about at the finish line.”

Western United’s men’s team ended its finals run with a 4-1 loss to Melbourne City in the semi-finals. The women’s team ended the season in sixth place and was bundled out of the final series in its first game.

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