Football Federation Australia (FFA) yesterday kicked Gold Coast United out of the A-League after a furious row with the club’s owner, billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer.
The decision, which will take effect from the end of the season, followed a recent outburst when Palmer labeled the league “a joke” and his club as “insignificant.”
Fellow billionaire and Australian soccer chief Frank Lowy attacked Palmer for his “illogical, confused and damaging” comments, while slamming the team for wearing jerseys that said “Freedom of Speech” during their last game.
Lowy, who has been chairman of shopping center giant Westfield for 50 years and has a A$4.98 billion (US$5.38 billion) fortune — marginally less than Palmer’s — said he was left with no alternative but to terminate the Gold Coast license.
It will leave the A-League with just nine teams.
“As custodians of the game, we had to act to protect the integrity of the Hyundai A-League on behalf of the other nine clubs, players, coaches and most importantly, the fans,” he said.
Gold Coast, bottom of the domestic competition, had their license taken away due to contraventions of FFA policies, deliberate defiance of an FFA direction and repeated public statements that brought the game into disrepute.
Lowy said he made repeated attempts yesterday to talk directly with Palmer about a smooth completion of the season for the sake of the other teams, but they went unanswered.
“The FFA will do everything possible within its power to see the players see out the season on the pitch,” he said, but added that Sunday’s match against the Phoenix in Wellington may have to be postponed.
Gold Coast have four games left to play.
Lowy said he was sad and disappointed that it had to come this, but added: “We can’t let anybody thumb their noses at us saying ‘we’re going to do what we want to do, but I want to stay.’”
Just ahead of the termination announcement, Palmer tweeted: “We intend to fight this ludicrous decision by FFA in the courts. Frank Lowy is an institution who now belongs in an institution.”
Last week, he said it would be a major blunder to take away the club’s license.
“We will injunct them in the Supreme Court and we will fight them in court to a standstill,” Palmer, who has vast coal and other mining assets in Australia, said then. “I have been involved in major business transactions in my life and in 68 litigations and our record is 68 to zero.”
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