South Wales Evening Post - 23 November 2006
Liberty Stadium bosses missed a deadline to hand over legal documents to a Government agency by three months - and the papers were only received after a query from the Evening Post.
Every limited company in the UK has to supply Companies House with accounts and other information on a regular basis.
However, Swansea Stadium Management Company (SSMC) failed to get this year's annual return in on time.
The document, which gives basic information about the company, has now been submitted just days after the Post asked about the delay.
According to the Companies House website: "Failure to deliver documents on time is a criminal offence."On conviction, a director could end up with a criminal record and a fine of up to £5,000 for each offence."
Two Swansea councillors sit on the board of directors.
Labour Group leader David Phillips said: "It is not a complicated form to fill in."There is no real reason why it should be three months late.
"And what is more worrying is that the returns have only been submitted after an inquiry from the press."
There has been no comment from SSMC's public relations firm about the late returns.
SSMC is a private company, but councillors John Hague and Gerald Clement are directors there to protect council interests in the stadium.
Although the company is officially classed as private, almost £3 million of public money has been used to bail it out financially.
A £2.3 million loan from Swansea Council was written off after first year losses of £780,000 were revealed. Swansea Council also handed over £200,000 to pay for under-soil heating, while another £250,000 of council cash was paid to help balance the company's books.
An audit report into SSMC said that more should have been done to prevent losses and highlighted a number of areas that needed improvement.
Following the report, a Swansea Council scrutiny group, made up of councillors from all parties, also agreed that more training should be given to councillors who are appointed as directors.
Councillor Phillips, who is a member of the scrutiny committee, said that because the company has such close links to the council it needs to be very well run.
He said: "It seems quite clear that lessons still need to be learned.
"Filling in annual returns is not a complicated process. All you really need to do is note down the names of the directors."