FFA under pressure to intervene in misconduct scandal

• The Australian
• 12:00AM March 11, 2017
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• CHIP LE GRAND

  

  soccer

  Melbourne

  @Melbchief

  

Sports lawyers have withdrawn their services from the Football Federation Victoria Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal, a volunteer panel that deals with serious issues such as crowd violence and racism, as well as on-field incidents.

The unprecedented boycott is a stance against the FFV board’s decision to render null and void a tribunal finding of misconduct against a former director ­accused of verbally abusing a teenage girl refereeing a 2014 junior match and a subsequent failure to explain its actions.

The former director, taxation lawyer Aldrin De Zilva, last year petitioned the board to overturn the finding against him and a two-year ban from attending games after his one-time political ally, former Socceroo Kimon Taliadoros, was elected as FFV president.

The board’s handling of the issue prompted the resignation of three board ­directors; finance and governance executive Sandra Lordanic, local government director Tammi Rose and legal adviser and former Matilda Tal Karp. The FFV’s then acting chief executive, Cathy Acocks, also quit.

In response to questions by The Weekend Australian, Taliadoros yesterday denied the tribunal decision was ever overturned. He said the board was threatened with legal action by De Zilva and had reached a settlement that did not interfere with the tribunal’s decision. He said the finding against De Zilva still stood.

“The tribunal’s decision stands and its sanctions have been implemented in full,’’ Taliadoros said. “The independence of the tribunal is a paramount consideration for FFV. The board believes that once all facts are fully appreciated, those ­parties who have previously raised concerns will respect the actions taken.’’

Taliadoros’s statement is at odds with the understanding of the directors who quit the board, the wording of a formal deed of settlement signed between Taliadoros and De Zilva last October and De Zilva’s belief that the finding against him had been quashed.

“The statement by Mr Taliadoros is totally inconsistent with and contrary to the formal apology I received from the FFV board and my understanding of the terms of the settlement deed with the FFV,’’ De Zilva said last night. “The formal apology I received from the FFV states that the FFV Tribunal decision was ‘null and void from the outset’.

“I have been the subject of death threats during the course of my tenure on the FFV board well before being subject to the farcical misconduct claims, which I have vehemently refuted, and the tribunal process which has been overturned. I find it gravely disturbing that this pointless persecution continues from a morally deficient organisation.’’

De Zilva did not appeal against his case to either the FFV appeals board or the FFA tribunal. Instead, he presented the board with a legal opinion from barrister Adrian Anderson that he was ­denied a fair hearing before the FFV tribunal.

A settlement was negotiated between Taliadoros and De Zilva without further reference to the tribunal or the teenage referee.

Lordanic and Rose confirmed to The Weekend Australian they quit the board because of its interference in the De Zilva case.

“The board’s governance and decision-making processes continued to be inconsistent with our expectations,’’ they said in a joint statement. “We resigned after the board invalidated the findings of a tribunal decision which, in our view, has wider consequences for the sport.’’

Acocks said she resigned from the board “due to, in my view, a lack of governance practices and the decision taken by the board on a tribunal matter’’.

FFV appeals board chairman Anthony Nolan QC said the handling of the De Zilva case went to the “heart of governance’’ at an ­organisation responsible for providing a fair and safe playing field for about 60,000 junior soccer players in the state.

He said the decision by lawyers to withdraw their services from the tribunal had been taken in “extreme’’ circumstances.

“What is the point of volunteering their time and labour to help the FFV in circumstances where the FFV board can just make its own decision and ride roughshod over the tribunal without following its own protocols and procedures for disciplinary matters?’’ Nolan said.

The sports law section of the Victorian Bar first wrote to the FFV in November last year raising its concerns about the independence of the FFV tribunal and requesting an explanation for why the tribunal finding against De Zilva was apparently overturned.

After the FFV declined to respond substantively, the sports law section last month wrote back to the FFV to say that due to its significant concerns about the case, it was “unable to continue to endorse and supports its members providing pro bono assistance to the FFV’’.

Lawyer Ben Ihle has resigned from the FFV tribunal. A further six lawyers are refusing to sit on the tribunal in the absence of further explanation from the FFV board. It is expected some lawyers will continue to sit on the tribunal.

Legal sources said yesterday’s public statements from Taliadoros raised more questions about the governance of the FFV.

The Weekend Australian understands FFA chief executive David Gallop is being briefed on the ­developing scandal and has asked the FFV to explain its conduct. FFA has broad powers to intervene in the affairs of state federations and where justified, suspend membership from the FFA.

The FFV’s actions are also being scrutinised by Victoria’s Sports Minister John Eren, who has referred the matter to Sport and Recreation Victoria, an ­agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.

The FFV is seeking state government funding for a proposed, $17 million redevelopment of the State Football Centre in Melbourne’s eastern suburb of Thornbury. It is unlikely that any government money will be allocated until the issues raised by the De Zilva case are resolved.

Taliadoros said the FFV had provided explanations to Eren and the Department of Heath and Human Services and “will continue to work with those who may have unresolved concerns’’.

Taliadoros, a former player, coach and broadcaster, and De Zilva, a director and Melbourne office head of law firm Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills, stood down from the board in 2014 after De Zilva was charged with misconduct, citing accounting irregularities as their reason for quitting.

The FFV’s accounts were subsequently examined by Consumer Affairs Victoria, which found no evidence of irregularities.

Taliadoros was re-elected as a director and made chairman in 2015 following fresh board elections. The FFV is conducting elections to replace the board members who stood down last ­October. Current chief executive Maxwell Grattan is the eighth CEO in four years.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/ffa-under-pressure-to-intervene-in-misconduct-scandal/news-story/37b01341f34f9f51778a0c657e4ef2ad

LOL FFA about to FIFA Victoria

The Weekend Australian understands FFA chief executive David Gallop is being briefed on the ­developing scandal and has asked the FFV to explain its conduct. FFA has broad powers to intervene in the affairs of state federations and where justified, suspend membership from the FFA.

Can we just have a national structure already so we don't have to deal with the state bodies acting in these kinds of ways. Im not saying the FFA don't, but we've needed a national system for years now. After the NSL was dissolved the state federations should have also been, and there would have been a full clean out.

Ah old football rears its head. And you guys want to give these corrupt individuals the keys!

Nobody wants FFV to run football in Australia.

When has anyone ever said that?

-PB

What a mess.

These guys, the clubs, NPL... does anyone think there's any difference? The FFA can do a lot better but this is why we need professional corporate governance at the federation level. Not some backwater wheelers and dealers looking out for their own self interests. Makes the laugh how you kids know best though, despite being to young to remember football governance in the 80/90s.

The FFV at it again. So much kulcha.

Kimon Taliadoros is NEW FOOTBALL.

Who are thes people wanting FFV running the game?I am pretty sure 99% of people are dead against that.
NPL clubs having a voice in running the FFA along with all other interested parties is perfectly reasonable.

The curse of growing old having see a new generation believing they have all the answers whilst ignoring what past. I think I will stick with the research.

Ahh up pops our resident wrong guy. 

3 years tops. 

Did you just assume my age?

KIMON TALIADORIS IS MIDDLE FOOTBALL!!!

THOUGH I HEARD HE'S NORTH FOOTBALL!  OR SOUTH FOOTBALL?

NO, HE'S NORTH BY NORTH-EAST FOOTBALL!

DEATH TO NORTH-NORTH-EAST FOOTBALL!!!!

You dont need to be old to see corrupt and inept governance. Even yoshi can see what ffa are doing and hes what, 12? 

Chip Le Grand

Is that really a person ?

New details in FFV scandal likely to trigger further resignations


FFV president Kimon Taliadoros is embroiled in a row over the handling of a complaint over a former director.
New details of a confidential settlement between Football Federation Victoria and an ex-director accused of verbally abusing a teenage girl refereeing a junior match have clouded an integrity scandal being watched by the sport’s national governing body and the Victorian government.

Contradictions between the public statements of FFV president Kimon Taliadoros and a letter of apology he signed and sent to former director Alvin De Zilva are expected to trigger further resignations from the FFV tribunal, the panel that heard the case against the prominent taxation lawyer.

Taliadoros last week denied his board overturned the tribunal’s finding of misconduct and two-year ban against De Zilva. He maintained the finding still stood.

This position is at odds with a letter of apology sent from Taliadoros to De Zilva dated October 20 last year and published yesterday on the FFV website.

Taliadoros told The Australian on Friday: “The board did not agree to overturn those findings, or to declare or determine that the findings were null and void.’’

The letter from Taliadoros to De Zilva states in part: “Given the unprecedented irregularities in the conduct of this particular tribunal matter, the FFV board have determined that the findings of the FFV tribunal so conducted were not in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness and as such are considered null and void from the outset. The FFV extends an apology to you for any inconvenience caused.’’

Taliadoros signed and sent the letter after De Zilva petitioned the FFV board and threatened legal action to have the tribunal finding declared void ab initio.

The letter followed a formal deed of settlement between Taliadoros and De Zilva. The key paragraph in the letter was lifted from the settlement deed.

The wording of the deed prompted three FFV directors to quit: finance and governance executive Sandra Lordanic, local government director Tammi Rose and legal adviser and former Matilda Tal Karp. The FFV’s then acting chief executive, Cathy Acocks, also quit.

Taliadoros, when asked to explain the discrepancy, provided a statement to The Australian. “The board did not agree to overturn those findings, or to declare or determine that the findings were null and void,’’ Taliadoros said. “The board simply agreed to indicate to Aldrin De Zilva in writing that, from its perspective, the findings of the tribunal would be considered by the board to be null and void from the outset.’’
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/new-details-in-ffv-scandal-likely-to-trigger-further-resignations/news-story/0a84287f5fcca4c0fe42b9515724ddf1

FFV overturned misconduct finding, despite its own legal advice


Former director Aldrin De Zilva.
Legal advice commissioned by Football Federation Victoria found it had no standing to review or overturn a tribunal decision against a former director found to have verbally abused a 17-year-old girl refereeing a junior match.

Despite this advice, the board declared the finding null and void and issued an apology to the former director, prompting the resignation of three board members and the FFV chief executive and a Bar table boycott of the tribunal.

A formal deed of settlement signed between FFV president Kimon Taliadoros and the former director, prominent taxation lawyer Aldrin De Zilva, in October last year sets out the chain of events that has culminated in a crisis of governance at the state federation.

De Zilva petitioned the board in April last year to review a finding of misconduct against him handed down by an FFV tribunal 21 months earlier. In response, the board engaged Andrew Green, a commercial law and dispute resolution expert, to provide advice.

According to the settlement deed, Green told the board on August 26 it was “unable to review or overturn the tribunal determination’’ and that the conflicting accounts of parties involved in the hearing could not be resolved.

The following month, the board was shown legal advice that De Zilva obtained from his own lawyer, former AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson. According to the settlement deed, Anderson advised that De Zilva had been denied a fair trial and that the tribunal decision should be declared void ab initio — null and void from the outset.

Acting on this advice rather than its own, the board acceded 10 days later to De Zilva’s demands.

The boardroom machinations took place against the backdrop of a series of sensational allegations levelled by De Zilva and his supporters in which FFV staff were accused of pressuring witnesses and doctoring statements and FFV directors of interfering in the tribunal process.

Those allegations were independently investigated by private consultancy RISQ Group. A confidential report prepared by RISQ’s Guy Underwood and obtained by The Australian could not substantiate any of De Zilva’s claims. The report notes that the case against De Zilva was based on the match-day report, statement and testimony of the 17-year-old referee, a referee supervisor who witnessed the abuse and a third referee who also provided a witness statement.

De Zilva was the team manager for his son’s under-13s team. The alleged abuse occurred inside the referees change room.

De Zilva refused to attend the tribunal hearing. However, a barrister engaged on his behalf cross-examined the witnesses at length. The tribunal found their accounts credible and imposed a two-year ban on De Zilva, preventing him from attending soccer matches.

All three witnesses subsequently told the RISQ Group that they were not pressured by anyone at the FFV to lodge their reports against De Zilva or to make changes to their statements.

De Zilva this week wrote to the Sports Law Section of the Victorian Bar saying he tried to challenge the tribunal finding but was denied an appeal. The RISQ report found that as of July 16, 2014, three weeks after the tribunal hearing, De Zilva had not lodged an appeal. Appeals must be lodged within five days of a tribunal hearing.

The FFV governance crisis is being closely monitored by the Victorian government and FFA chief David Gallop, who has asked Taliadoros to explain the board’s actions.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/ffv-overturned-misconduct-finding-despite-its-own-legal-advice/news-story/5e09d41a1008699b3fd1e95c0728dd1b

FFV Board under pressure to explain controversial decision

The matter relates to a controversial decision regarding a settlement with former board member Aldrin De Zilv



FFV President Kimon Taliodoros. Photo: Football Federation Victoria

17 March 2017

The FFV board is coming under increasing pressure to explain a controversial decision to agree to what it calls "a legal settlement" with former board member Aldrin De Zilva. The latter threatened legal action against it after the FFV Tribunal had banned him for two years over charges of misconduct related to abuse of a female referee at a junior match in 2014.

The board's decision in October last year, to reach a settlement and apologise to De Zilva, was soon followed by the resignation of three female board members and the then acting FFV CEO Cathy Acocks.

It's also been reported recently in the Weekend Australian that several sports lawyers have since boycotted the FFV Disciplinary and Appeals tribunal, by withdrawing their voluntary services on the board, taking a stand against what some consider interference in the Tribunal's independence.

Two of the female board members who resigned last year, confirmed in a joint statement to the Weekend Australian that they resigned over FFV board's interference in the De Zilva case, whilst acting CEO at the time, Acocks, also said her resignation was due to the board's decision on a tribunal matter. According to the recent Weekend Australian report, FFV president Kimon Taliadoros denied the tribunal decision was overturned saying that the board instead reached a settlement with De Zilva after he threatened legal action.

The FFV has released a statement relating to the matter which says: "This legal settlement fell within the ambit of the powers of the FFV board and was made with the best interest of the game."

The FFV has also published a copy of the letter sent from Taliodoros to De Zilva apologising to him on behalf of the FFV and notifying him of the board's decision to render the original tribunal finding against De Zilva null and void, on the grounds of a lack of procedural fairness. However, the FFV board may need to explain its actions in greater detail particularly if the FFA decides to investigate the matter.

http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/FFV-Board-under-pressure-to-explain-controversial-decision

Work claim reveals Football Federation Victori­a’s turmoil

The governance crisis and administrative dysfunction crippling the peak body for soccer in Victoria has been laid bare in a complaint to the Fair Work Commission against Football Federation Victori­a and its president, Kimon Taliadoros.

A claim lodged by FFV human relations manager Teresa Kypria­n­ou accuses Mr Taliadoros of free­zing her out of staff appointments in which qualified, well-performing managers were re­trenched and replaced by his hand-picked supporters.

Details of the claim have emerged following the resignation of 30 barristers and solici­tors from the FFV tribunal to protest against Mr Taliadoros’s decision to declare as null and void a misconduct finding against one of his former board members accused of abusing a teenage girl refereeing an under-13s match.

In a resignation letter sent to Mr Taliadoros, Football Federation Australia chief David Gallop and Victorian Minister for Sport John Eren, the lawyers say the tribunal has lost its independence and no longer operates according to the rule of law and natural justice. “In our view, the board’s conduct is of such gravity that our continued service is untenable in the present circumstances.’’

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/fair-work-claim-reveals-football-federation-victorias-turmoil/news-story/fba33bb14b8b0de7f8d1582ad76e2fd4

-PB

need more football people involved with the.....oh yeah.

Victorian soccer exodus leaves sport vulnerable as season begins

FFV president Kimon Taliadoros.
A purge at the top of Victorian soccer has left the sport without its senior managers responsible for football, finance, legal affairs, high performance and participation programs at the start of a new season.

The crisis at Football Federation Victoria, which under an “organisation restructure’’ has removed an entire administration and reasserted old ethnic and club allegiances, has also exposed the limits of the state government and FFA to intervene.

The Andrews government withheld from this month’s budget $15 million in funding promised to refurbish the dilapidated State Football Centre, meaning all three pitches at Melbourne’s home of football will be unplayable this winter.

Undeterred, FFV president Kimon Taliadoros and his board pressed ahead with a clean-out of the federation’s senior ranks.

As of yesterday, general manager of football operations Matthew Annells, head of competitions Liam Bentley, chief financial officer Chris Brophy and legal counsel Richard Redman had all quit or been told to leave. Technical director David Smith, in charge of high-performance programs, is due to work his last day on Friday. Jorge Gero and Mike Fox, who oversaw the participation programs, have already left.

The exodus follows the removal last June of chief executive Peter Gome, his interim replacement Cathy Acocks and the departure of HR manager Teresa Kyprianou amid a Fair Work Commission complaint against Taliadoros.

The $40,000 settlement of that complaint, when added to the redundancy and legal costs associated with other departures, has drained about $750,000 from an organisation that turns over about $11 million a year.

George Angelopoulous, a political ally of Taliadoros, has been appointed for five years as general manager of football operations. Together with chief executive in Maxwell Gratton, they have taken firm control.

The crisis has its origins in a decision taken by Taliadoros to declare null and void a tribunal finding against a former board member, Alvin De Zilva, for allegedly abusing a teenage girl who was refereeing a junior match. Three female directors quit the board and 30 tribunal members withdrew.

Victorian Sports Minister John Eren last month demanded Taliadoros apologise to the girl and told FFV to address its governance issues. FFA chief executive David Gallop is scheduled to address the FFV board next week. Gallop has little leverage over the state federation, which receives about $500,000 in Australian Sports Commission funding.

Taliadoros did not respond to questions.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/victorian-soccer-exodus-leaves-sport-vulnerable-as-season-begins/news-story/f28e711da8e33e0579de6c4762ba2c17