The 26-year-old is locked in a legal dispute with his former agent Einar Baardsen and it is understood that the bankruptcy order was obtained by a lawyer who is trying to recover fees in the region of £70,000 from Baardsen through Riise. The bankruptcy order on Riise was obtained at Liverpool County Court and will stay in effect for a year.
While it appears that the bankruptcy proceedings have been activated by just one individual in a bid to recover fees, the move is the latest development in the player's chaotic financial affairs. Riise is himself pursuing Baardsen - who has been declared bankrupt in Norway - for around £3m that he believes he is owed from the agent with whom he split in 2005.
Riise will be subject to the normal rules of bankruptcy that put limitations on the amount of credit he can borrow. His long-standing case against Baardsen is currently in the hands of Norwegian court administrators who are deciding what assets Baardsen has to share among his creditors and, once that is completed, the dispute between the two parties is likely to be decided in court in the Norwegian town of Stavanger.