Paju Frontier FC Defends Budget Allocation Amid Wasteful Spending Claims

Paju Frontier FC faces scrutiny over its finances as club officials defend a 6 billion won city budget allocation against allegations of wasteful spending, spotvnews.co.kr reported. The newly launched professional football club released an official statement to clarify that the total funding from Paju City does not all go toward operating the main squad and administrative office.

Actual City Support Fund Stands at 4.95 Billion Won

Out of the 6 billion won total, 500 million won remains unspent because the club has not yet purchased two planned team buses, according to club data. Additional mandatory expenses include a 500 million won entry fee for the Korea Professional Football League and a 50 million won annual membership fee. After subtracting these items, the actual city support fund available for running the active season stands at 4.95 billion won, spotvnews.co.kr reported.

Club Exceeds Internal Revenue Target to Cover Shortfalls

To cover shortfalls, the club set an internal revenue target of 1 billion won for the year and achieved 120 percent of that goal as of September 30. Paju allocates roughly 250 million to 300 million won from these independent earnings directly to the NFC cafeteria to provide adequate meals and nutrition for players. The club also pays about 15 million won per month—amounting to roughly 180 million won annually—to separately lease vehicles for training and away matches while waiting to purchase team buses, spotvnews.co.kr reported.

Addressing recent accounting controversies in professional football, the club outlined its internal oversight procedures. Accounting staff, the management planning team leader, and executives cross-check bankbook balances against actual balances daily, running income and withdrawal records through multiple cross-verification steps.

Audit Response and On-Field Performance

The club underwent a three-week subsidy audit by Paju City, submitting requested materials to address observations raised in September. Club representatives acknowledged potential administrative oversights during their inaugural professional season while disputing the characterization of their overall administration as wasteful, spotvnews.co.kr reported.

Ahead of the season, four football journalists picked Paju as the last-place candidate among 17 K League 2 teams due to its status as a newcomer and its bottom-tier budget. As of the 27th round, however, the club sits 12th on goal difference, outperforming initial projections and keeping playoff ambitions alive. Paju also highlighted the appointment of Spanish coach Gerard, goalkeeper Kim Min-seung’s selection for the Asian Games national team, and Lee Chan-ho’s transfer to the Portuguese league as key player development milestones, spotvnews.co.kr reported.