Lee Bowyer has urged his Charlton players to focus on Championship survival and let off-field matters take care of themselves after another turbulent week at The Valley.
Addicks executive chairman Matt Southall announced the board had accepted majority shareholder Tahnoon Nimer’s resignation as a director at the start of the week amid an increasingly bitter dispute.
Southall claimed Nimer had not invested “a single penny of the promised funds” since East Street Investments’ takeover of the club was confirmed on January 2.
That was backed by Football League chiefs, who revealed Charlton are yet to meet the requirements for proof of funding until June next year.
The Addicks were placed under a transfer embargo in January, and although frustrated by the situation, Bowyer has no intention of leaving.
The 43-year-old, who has signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with the club, told a press conference: “I don’t want to walk away. I could have done that in January.
“Everybody knows what the club means to me. I knew the situation we were in with the embargo and I decided to stay and fight for the club.
“I believe in this club and I love the club. I have a good, honest bunch of lads with good staff around me and good fans who support the players.
“We’ve all worked so hard to get to where we are now and I won’t walk away from it.
“If there’s any club that can come out of it, this is it. This club has been backed into a corner many times and it’s come out fighting.”
Bowyer added: “I want to believe everything will be OK, but everyone knows there are a lot of things that have been going on that are not OK.”
Meanwhile, Charlton have given their full support to Southall after Nimer’s acrimonious departure.
The EFL has expressed its concern over “a number of unhelpful media comments, emanating from Charlton Athletic over the past 24 hours”.
Charlton have issued a further statement, saying: “The club wish to make it clear that Matt Southall has their full support in his role as executive chairman and are looking forward to working with him into the future towards a positive end to this current season and beyond.
“All the public allegations levelled at Mr Southall by either Mr Nimer or his advisors are denied in their entirety and Mr Southall retains the full backing of the club and its board.”
Charlton said the club was at risk of further EFL sanctions if proof of funding until June next year was not provided and was taking legal advice.
The statement added: “In the meantime, and until further notice, no statements made by either Mr Nimer or his advisors should be understood to represent the club’s position.”
In an interview on talkSPORT later on Thursday, Nimer said he would not invest in the club until Southall resigned and accused him of spending the club’s money on car hire, hotels and travel expenses.
Nimer said: “He is not the right person to be the chairman of Charlton because the biggest priority for him is his lifestyle, not the club. He has misused the club for his lifestyle.
“As a major shareholder in the club it is impossible to have any trust in Matt Southall after he has abused that trust and acted in a manner which has cost the club a lot of money.”
Nimer added: “I want to give him the opportunity to leave so we can start repairing the damage he has done.”
Charlton, in the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone after promotion last season, play at Hull on Saturday.
