Perth Glory booted out of A-League finals

Author Photo
Michael Thwaite

The official statement from the FFA:

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has determined that Perth Glory Football Club will be excluded from the 2015 Hyundai A-League Finals Series after being found to be in breach of the Hyundai A-League’s Player Contract Regulations (‘salary cap’).

At the end of Round 27 the Club’s position on the ladder will be adjusted and recorded as seventh.

The sanction follows the determination that Perth Glory has deliberately failed to disclose reportable benefits and payments to at least six players, and from the beginning of the 2014/15 season has been operating in excess of the allowable salary cap of $2.55m by in the order of $400,000.

FFA has also determined that the Club was in breach of the rules for failing to disclose payments in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons. 

Perth Glory will be fined $269,000 in total for the breaches over the three seasons as follows:

*         $26,000 for the 2012/13 season, being the value of the undisclosed payments and benefits

*         $43,000 for the 2013/14 season, being the value of the undisclosed payments and benefits

*         $200,000 for the 2014/15 season, taking into account the significance of the total sanction for this season, namely the exclusion from the Finals series (and consequently any prospect of qualifying for the 2016 Asian Champions League)

The breaches include deliberately not disclosing:

*          Payments outside of the Standard Player Contract

*          Payments to a player’s family member

*          Payments of player agents’ fees

*          A Third Party sponsorship

*          A Pre-payment to a player

*          Payment of travel costs

*          Accommodation benefits

*          Provision of motor vehicles

Perth Glory has seven business (7) days in which to lodge an appeal under the FFA’s regulations to the independent FFA Disciplinary Committee.  

Author(s)
Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at Sporting News Australia.