NORTH Queensland chief executive officer Rabieh Krayem says he is 100 per cent confident that Fury will be in the A-League next season despite revealing at this stage they have nothing of the $1.5 million needed by their January 31 deadline.
The FFA have demanded Fury cover half of their predicted $3 million losses for next season by the end of January or the club will cease to be part of the A-League for the 2011/2012 season.
Krayem told Fox Sports FC he was extremely confident Fury could meet the deadline and survive, but produced a stunning revelation that the club has raised no actual dollars towards the $1.5 million.
"We have zero," he said. "What we do have is ongoing discussions with major corporations both national and state organisations in relation to organising some sponsorships and partnerships that are significant dollars.
"We're confident over the next couple of weeks we'll announce a couple and we're confident we'll get very close to that figure by the time of the deadline on the 31st of January.
"We've been in discussions with a whole lot of corporate partners at all levels over the past few months. We know our target and we know our date, which is something we can work towards."
He added: "(We're) 100 per cent. If we don't have that 100 per cent confidence we're going to lose it.
"I'm very confident we'll do everything in our power to make sure the Fury come February 1 will be in the A-League for next year."
The Fury CEO said the code would lose a foothold in a vital region should Fury be withdrawn from the A-League.
"Twelve months ago if you went to a local football ground and you asked the kids who were playing soccer or football 'which football team do they support?' I'd say 80 per cent of them would tell you 'we support the Cowboys'. You go and ask them that question today, they'll tell you the Fury," he said.
"If the Fury is not around that's what football is going to miss, this next breed of supporters who've been bought with an A-League side in their region.
"If it's not there, it'll go back to rugby league and for the investment the game has made in the North Queensland it would be a tragedy."
Krayem also spoke about the club's future vision of taking games outside of Townsville.
"The reason we're taking the game outside of Townsville is I think we've got to grow our market," he said.
"If we don't take it to Cairns or to Northern Territory or Mount Isa or Mackay, we become a Townsville team and we're not a Townsville team.
"We're a North Queensland team and we're going to grow into our markets in North Queensland and Darwin."
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