Hajduk Split avoid bankruptcy

Cash-strapped Croatian football club Hajduk Split have avoided bankruptcy as the city council, its majority owner, on Monday guaranteed a four-million-euro ($5 million) loan, as thousands of fans gathered over the issue. "Common sense has prevailed. I thank all councillors who voted for the decision. It will help us to stay on our feet," the club's president Marin Brbic told HRT national television. Since the early morning hours on Monday, Hajduk Split fans gathered in front of the city council premises awaiting the outcome of the vote, HRT reported. The decision came after the council only three days ago refused to offer guarantees for the 30-million-kuna loan, aimed at financing basic costs and players' wages, estimating that the club would not be able to return it. Brbic on Friday said that the club, that has recorded loses of at least 90 million kunas, would go bankrupt. But, several hundred fans then gathered in front of the central Adriatic city council premises to protest the decision and prompted a new session to be called that eventually had a favourable outcome for the club. Hajduk Split, founded 111 years ago, have won 18 league titles, six since Croatia proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The club has qualified three times for the Champions League quarter-finals. They currently sit third in the national league. Croatian football is facing serious problems, with several first division sides suffering financial hardship, while recent match-fixing and bribing scandals have rocked the former Yugoslav republic.