PFA threatens legal action over Jets axings

The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) has threatened legal action over Newcastle Jets' attempts to axe five senior players.

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Sacked Newcastle Jets star David Carney's face sums up the drama going on at the A-League club this week.

As the turmoil surrounding the embattled A-League club descended into farce, PFA chief executive Adam Vivian threw his full support behind captain Kew Jaliens, David Carney, Adrian Madaschi, Joel Griffiths and Billy Celeski, all of whom were sensationally sacked by Newcastle on Wednesday night.

Vivian said due process had not been followed and that the five players were still legally contracted to the club and protected by the A-League's collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

"We have a CBA in place and it must be complied with," said Vivian.

"The actions of the club in attempting to terminate the contracts of the players, without satisfactory justification, are not in accordance with the CBA.

"If the situation is not remedied immediately we will take the necessary legal steps.

"The actions of the club undermine the A-League, which is a competition that is based on respect for contracts and committed to player wellbeing."



Not including those five, it's believed the Jets have only 13 contracted senior players remaining.

The club also has a skeleton staff, with no chief executive officer and currently no media manager.

Newcastle has begun scouring the state leagues to find reinforcements, with defender Adrian Chiappetta, who captained Northcote City last year in Victoria's National Premier Leagues competition, understood to be one lower-tier player who has agreed to switch to the Jets.

With training again cancelled on Thursday, Newcastle players have not touched a ball since Saturday's 7-0 thumping at the hands of Adelaide United.

That embarrassing result sparked the current crisis, which threatens to boil over into all-out warfare between owner Nathan Tinkler and Football Federation Australia (FFA) across the weekend.

, which also saw three members of the coaching staff fired, as a "planned strategic move" designed to change the club's dysfunctional culture and reinforce head coach Phil Stubbins's authority.

However, the remaining Jets players are furious with how the past 48 hours have been handled and are in solidarity with their axed team-mates and coaches.

Tinkler has been told he has until this Saturday to address the club's outstanding debts, and it's anticipated FFA will attempt to revoke the club's A-League licence if he doesn't.

A-League supremo Damien De Bohun said Wednesday's events added "another layer of concern" to the club's perilous situation.

"I think it's fair to say there's some uncertainty at the moment, and the players around the club have been in that context for some time," De Bohun told Fox Sports News.

"What they want to be clear on is where the club's heading and what their futures look like.

"We've been really clear on the timeframes with Nathan and obviously it's in the days rather than the weeks now."

Northern NSW Football chief executive David Eland, whose organisation is owed $140,000 by the Jets, said the saga was severely damaging grassroots football in Newcastle.

"Every day it goes on, it's just generating more negative publicity and more negative talk," he said.

"It's disappointing when the game is on such a high locally - we've had the Asian Cup here, we hosted the Socceroos in a successful semi-final.

"There's just been such a buzz around the sport and to have this issue with the A-League club is less than ideal."


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3 min read
Published 29 January 2015 7:17pm
Updated 30 January 2015 9:30am

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