By David Gold
March 5 – The battle between Clive Palmer (pictured) and Football Federation Australia (FFA) has been ratcheted up again after the Gold Coast United owner vowed to create a new governing body for football in the country.
Palmer vowed to create the new administration in the wake of the FFA decision to strip his licence to field Gold Coast United in the A-League from next season, after they allegedly broke league rules by displaying the slogan “freedom of speech” on their shirts and around their stadium last weekend.
The new organisation, “Football Australia”, has already been registered, Palmer claimed, to “oversee football at a grassroots and senior level and ensure the game is operated with transparency and fairness,” he said at a press conference.
“The FFA has lurched from one disaster to another and needs to be replaced.
“They staged a hugely embarrassing World Cup bid which blew AUS$46 million (£31 million/$49.5 million/€37 million) of taxpayers’ money for one vote and they are running an A-League competition which is bleeding money from club owners.
“The fans, players and people with a passion for football in Australia deserve better and Football Australia will be based on full transparency and corporate governance.
“We want to ensure there is fairness in the game for all stakeholders and end the dictatorship that the game has endured under the FFA.”
Palmer also hit out at the decision to strip Gold Coast United of their A-League licence, labelling it “a disgraceful move by Frank Lowy and the FFA as we weren’t given adequate notification or a fair hearing”.
“I am confident that decision can be successfully challenged and we owe it to the Gold Coast supporters and players to keep the club in a national competition,” he added.
Palmer has previously claimed that he does not even like football in an outspoken attack on the FFA last month
The FFA have hit back against the creation of the new body, reiterating their hope that Gold Coast United can complete the final four fixtures of their season.
“The comments serve no purpose in any way to advance football in Australia,” FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said.
“At this stage FFA does not intend to respond to this farcical outburst, which is clearly intended to deflect attention from the real issue – that Gold Coast United FC Pty Ltd under Clive Palmer has shown that it will not comply with the rules and regulations of the competition in accordance with the agreement they signed.
“Today the head of Hyundai A-League, Lyall Gorman, met with the Gold Coast United players and discussed the situation following yesterday’s termination of the licence.
“There’s a real determination among the players to fulfil the remaining fixtures and the FFA is working diligently to get that outcome.”
The FFA also confirmed that they had been notified of Gold Coast United’s decision to initiate legal proceedings relating to the stripping of their licence.
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