NATHAN Tinkler is not done fighting just yet, accusing the FFA of being “morally bankrupt” for taking back his A-League licence and warning they may have taken the first step towards folding their own competition.
Just hours after the FFA announced it was taking over the debt-riddled Newcastle Jets and stripping Tinkler of ownership of the club, the former billionaire hinted at potential legal action saying: “This could get ugly.”
“They have proven just how selfish they are with their actions today,” Tinkler told The Daily Telegraph.
They depend on the A-League owners to subsidise their game but it is just not a sustainable model.
“This is not over yet. I’ve got a buyer (Scottish club Dundee United) there that they are engaging with and they are effectively trying to pinch that buyer from me.
“I’ve engaged with that buyer to sell the club and that is still what I intend on doing.”
Asked how he would go about that given he no longer owns the licence, Tinkler said:
“That’s what we are going to have the blue with the FFA about.
“The way it’s going, they might have a few more of these licences in their lap in the next couple of months.
“They might have just taken the first step to folding their own competition.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Tinkler put the Jets into voluntary administration with debts of $2.7 million.
He claimed a sale to Dundee United for just under $5 million was “imminent” and wanted the FFA to give him the time to get the sale across the line.
But with the monthly wages of players and staff that were due last Friday still unpaid, the FFA acted.
Tinkler maintains his priority is to see all the club’s creditors paid out in full and wants the opportunity to ensure that happens.
He hopes a meeting between the FFA, representatives from Dundee United and the administrator can clear things up.
“I think I have got good legal grounds to fight this,” he said.
“I think the FFA’s actions are immoral and unethical. In good faith, I let them talk to the party who wants to buy the club and this is how they have reacted.
“I’ve got my legal advice but I will just sit on that for now. We’ll go with the buyer to see the FFA to see if some common sense can prevail.
“I’ve been in contact with the FFA all day. I didn’t hide from these actions. It wasn’t a surprise to them because I told them what I was going to do.”
Tinkler says the FFA is playing with fire in their treatment of him.
“The FFA have set the template here of ripping off owners and thinking it’s okay, ”he said.
“ They peg us guys to put our hard-earned in and we do and then they want to rip it from you and basically, they are saying that all A-League licences are worth nothing.
“What are we as owners doing this for? The FFA is saying we don’t have anything of value and they are taking steps to try and prove that. Are they going to take the licence off Brisbane next? Are they going to take the licence off Perth or Central Coast next?
“All those guys are in the gun sights of the FFA because we have been stamping our feet saying there has to be change because it is just not sustainable.
“Mark my words. If they are not careful and continue to treat the owners like they are, there won’t be a competition full-stop.”
TINKLER’S TURBULENT TIME
September 2010: Purchased the Newcastle Jets from Con Constantine.
October 2010: Membership of the club increased to over 10,000.
October 2010: Extended his ownership of the club until 2020.
October 2011: Terminated the contract of coach Branko Culina.
April 2012: Attempted to hand the Jets’ A-League licence back to FFA, but was told he would be in breach of contract. He retained ownership.
May 2014: Appointed Phil Stubbins as coach on a two-year contract.
February 2015: Settled a series of outstanding debts to a variety of organisations.
April 2015: Attended his first home game at Hunter Stadium and pledged his long term commitment to the Jets.
May 2015: Failed to pay employees wages for the third time in four months and placed the club into voluntary administration.
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