Bradford Council will not pump any money into Bradford City Football

Club as it looks to stave off the threat of liquidation, it was

confirmed today.The Council issued a statement to the Telegraph & Argus

saying it was "not in a position to provide finances" to the club which

is continuing its fight for survival.But Council leader Council-lor

Margaret Eaton insisted that officers were investigating other ways the

Council could help the club which was yesterday granted a stay of

execution while crunch negotiations continue.As predicted in the T&A on

Wednesday, the Football League agreed to provide funding which has

allowed chief executive Julian Rhodes to continue to provide funding for

the administration.Mr Rhodes has now been granted an "exclusivity

agreement" with the administrators ruling out anyone else from coming

forward with a rival bid for the club. He is now drawing up a Company

Voluntary Arrange-ment (CVA), stating how much each of the creditors

will be paid under the terms of the offer, which will then be voted on

by the creditors before the end of the season.Discussions will now

continue with some of the key stakeholders, including finance firm

Lombard, former chairman Gordon Gibb and the Inland Revenue, ahead of

the vote.A statement issued by the club yesterday admitted: "The outcome

of the CVA is by no means certain as the major stakeholders have not as

yet committed to the proposed restructuring plans and these discussions

will continue in the next days and weeks."For the club to survive, the

CVA will need to be approved by creditors otherwise we will not be

allowed to continue in the Football League."Mr Rhodes declined to

comment at this stage on the Council's statement.It read: "We do not

want to see Bradford City go out of business and we hope a solid way

forward can be found."The Council will provide whatever support it can,

such as the help of officers to talk to different organisations, but it

is not in a position to provide finances for the club."Coun Eaton

insisted the Council would look at providing help but it needed to see a

properly-presented business case."I think Bradford City is very

important to the district and we would hate to see it fail. However, we

are the custodians of the public purse and there is a limit to what we

can legally do."But the Council statement was condemned by Labour group

leader Councillor Ian Greenwood who said he was "outraged" that he had

not been consulted."It is a disgrace that they are issuing press

releases when one party has not been consulted about it at all," he

said."I am more than happy to speak to the club should they wish to do

so. What we need to do is understand the needs of their financial

situation."Coun Greenwood said he could not say at this stage whether he

would support the Council giving financial help but said there could be

scope for a loan facility which would not cost the tax payer in the

long-run.He also criticised comments made by Council executive member

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Idle) who has written to the T&A saying

the club should not receive any financial support until it improves its

work in the community (See letter, right).Coun Greenwood said: "This

sounds like an excuse for not providing help. The club has done

perfectly fine and to blame it like this is wrong."