Cork City are facing the prospect of being wound-up after 26 years in existence. The club has been refused a licence to operate in the League of Ireland Premier Division for next season, which was the crucial pre-requisite for an 11th-hour takeover from a locally-based consortium that was promising to pay-off the club’s debts. An application to compete in the top-flight was unanimously refused by the FAI’s Licensing Committee, which means that the club will reappear before the High Court tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon with no way of paying-off estimated debts of over 600,000 euro. Even if the current owner, Tom Coughlan manages to satisfy the creditors, City have no mandate to compete in the league this year. A separate application, from the club’s Supporters’ Trust, Foras has been granted a First Division licence for next season. However, the new out-fit will be unlikely to receive the same backing that a Premier Division out-fit would have commanded, and the group now has just over a week to recruit a playing squad and secure a home ground ahead of the start of the new League of Ireland season. FAI statement: “The Independent Club Licensing Committee met this evening (22/01/10) and unanimously decided to refuse the Premier Division Licence application of Cork City Investment FC Ltd. Having carefully considered the application and all of the documentation submitted it was the view of the Committee that the club fell seriously short of the criteria required to fulfil a Premier Division Licence in a number of areas. The committee also considered the application from Friends of the Rebel Army Society (FORAS) and agreed to grant a First Division Licence for the 2010 season.” The consortium that was hoping to takeover from Tom Coughlan and Turners Cross has expressed its disappointment with tonight’s decision. A spokesperson for the group said: “With the decision of the Licencing (sic) Committee not to grant a Premier League licence, we’re unable to proceed with our bid. Unfortunately, this means that the club will be wound up, with devastating consequences for staff, players and creditors. This is a sad day for us, the FAI and Cork City, as we are now left without top-flight soccer in the country’s second city.”