AUSTRALIA's richest man, Frank Lowy, and mining magnate Clive Palmer are set to go head to head over Gold Coast United's axing from the A-League.
Football Federation Australia chairman Lowy announced at a press conference today that he had withdrawn Gold Coast's licence.
The decision follows weeks of criticism of the League, and the game in general, from Palmer.
A "disappointed'' Lowy today said he had no alternative but to revoke the licence to protect the integrity of the competition following Palmer's "flagrant disregard'' for A-League rules.
Palmer wasted little time responding, vowing to take legal action against the FFA and labelling Lowy as a "dictator".
"We intend to fight this ludicrous decision by incompetent FFA in the courts. Frank Lowy is an institution who now belongs in an institution,'' Palmer posted on his Twitter account.
"I have the resources to go out and form a 10-team league of my own and maybe that's what I will do. If Mr Lowy wants to take on my wealth against his, let's bring it on."
The FFA now looks set for one of the biggest and highest-profile court cases in Australian sporting history.
Palmer, Queensland’s richest man, told The Australian Online: "I believe Frank Lowy has lost the plot. We were given no notice, we have had no hearing and we will pursue this in the high court in pursuit of natural justice.
“We don’t know what the charge is and Frank Lowy has behaved like a dictator. This course of action should not be allowed to stand in Australia.
“Mr Lowy will have his day in court. He will be cross-examined. We’ll seek to have the FFA’s records opened up over the multi-million salaries of their top executives.
“Frank Lowy has started this fight and we will finish it.”
Lowy said today that he was left with no alternative than to terminate the Gold Coast licence, leaving 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.
Lowy said the club had been a “spectacular failure” in connecting with the Gold Coast community.
It followed his comments yesterday, when he 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.
FFA finally lost patience with Palmer, announcing at 2.15pm today that it had grounds to strip the billionaire of his right to run the club.
Palmer broke the news by tweet before Lowy could announce the not-entirely-unexpected decision.
He tweeted: "Our licence is being revoked by Frank Lowy and FFA cohorts .. I will issue detailed response shortly.''
The A-League will continue for the rest of the season without Gold Coast, which is running last in the 10-team league and has struggled to draw crowds.
A-League chiefs claim Gold Coast United has breached its licensing agreement in a number of areas.
The circus surrounding Palmer and his battle with FFA came to a head on Saturday night when he defied an edict to remove unauthorised ground signage and an illegal team playing strip before his young side's 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory at Skilled Park.
Advertising hoardings with the words "freedom of speech" were strategically placed around the ground. And United players wore jerseys, which normally carry the name of club sponsor Hyatt Coolum, with the same slogan emblazoned across the front.
The controversy came amid speculation FFA, disappointed by the flak it has been receiving over its handling of certain matters in recent weeks, was considering changes among management staff.
And it came as FFA attempted to drag itself back following a disastrous week last week in which Palmer was a thorn in its side.
And questions have been raised regarding the youth development program after the Olyroos were eliminated from the Olympics for the first time in nearly 28 years.
Unfortunately for FFA, Palmer raised the stakes with his act of defiance on Saturday night - a situation from which FFA was not prepared to back away.
Palmer sparked a war of words with FFA last week when he told the Sunday Mail that he "doesn't even like soccer" and that "rugby league is a better game".
He backed away from the statement during an interview on SBS television early last week, suggesting he had been taken out of context and that he "really didn't like how the game was being administered".
The FFA hit back by declaring Palmer's comments regarding the game were "offensive and disrespectful".
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/gold-coast-owner-clive-palmer-loses-a-league-licence/story-e6frg7mf-1226285136612
Well, well, well, this is interesting. Their last game (which could end up being their last game ever if Palmer doesn't win the court case, and FFA decide not to run the club),is against Brisbane at Skilled.
