Perth Glory have plunged deeper into crisis after the resignation on Thursday of Jason Brewer as CEO amid the A-League club's legal battle to have their finals' ban lifted for alleged salary cap infringements.
Brewer had held the position for two years. His resignation comes as the Western Australian side await a third show cause letter from Football Federation Australia (FFA) for spending on players beyond the AU$2.55 million annual limit on A-League clubs.
In a statement released by Perth Glory, Brewer insisted that no illegal payments had been made during his tenure with the club.
"Like every A-League club, we manage it throughout the season and it must be made very clear that this club has made each and every payment through its own records," he said. "There have been no so called secret or third party payments made on behalf of the club.
"As I said, as CEO of the club, the ultimate responsibility rests with me and for this reason I must take full and total responsibility.
"It is therefore, in the best interests of the club, I announce that from today I am resigning as CEO of Perth Glory ... with immediate effect and before the outcome of the appeal process is reached.
"I unreservedly apologise to the staff, sponsors, members, fans and players of Perth Glory for the position in which the club finds itself in."
A Perth Glory spokesman said that the club would be "steered" by senior management until a new CEO is appointed.
Although Perth sit in third place on the table with two rounds to go, they cannot finish higher than seventh under FFA sanctions, which would rule them out of next month's A-League finals.
They were also fined AU$269,000 for allegedly going AU$400,000 above the mandatory salary cap.