By David Gold
March 1 – The Football Federation Australia (FFA) has told Clive Palmer that his license to play his Gold Coast United team in the A-League will be terminated at the end of the season, though they will allow the club to finish the current campaign.
Palmer and FFA have been involved in a war of words after the Gold Coast United owner said that he thought football was “a hopeless game” and attacked the A-League.
He has previously threatened court action if his Gold Coast license was revoked, and following the FFA decision, Palmer posted on his Twitter account to make precisely that claim.
“We intend to fight this ludicrous decision by incompetent FFA in the courts,” he said.
“[FFA chairman] Frank Lowy is an institution who now belongs in an institution.”
Lowy had yesterday refused to be drawn into a personal war of words with Palmer when speaking at a lunch in Melbourne, though he did say that “with each passing day it seems the statements emanating from the Gold Coast are more illogical, more confusing and ever more damaging to our game.
“I am surprised when these ramblings are taken seriously and given credence and picked up by others.”
The decision to revoke the license comes after Gold Coast United wore shirts featuring the slogan “Freedom of Speech”, with the same phrase on show around their stadium at the weekend in place of their usual Hyatt sponsor.
The club had claimed they wore the shirts to highlight the plight of refugees.
The FFA want to exhaust every step possible to help the club fulfil their fixtures, including the possibility of paying Gold Coast players themselves.
They are also considering postponing Gold Coast’s fixture with Wellington Phoenix this weekend, one of the four remaining matches they have left to play.
“If we need extra time to put in place the necessary arrangements then we will consider postponing the match,” FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said.
“The players are just one of the many innocent victims in all this and FFA will do its best to enable them to see out their playing season on the pitch.
“They deserve that opportunity at the very least.”
Lowy added: “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.”
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