Moore hits Roar spot in jersey scandal
BRISBANE Roar have avoided defamation action by absolving departing football director Craig Moore of blame for the club’s embarrassing “jersey-gate” scandal.
Last month Moore was set to take action after being placed on “gardening leave” for the rest of his tenure by Roar vice-chairman Chris Fong, following numbers peeling off jerseys in the embarrassing 3-2 AFC Champions League playoff loss to Filipino outfit Ceres-Negros in January.
Moore, who receives his final wages next week, was publicly blamed for the fiasco.
“We have a football director and the buck stops with him,” Fong told The World Game website.
Moore’s lawyer Tim Fuller sought a public apology, alleging the statements attributed to Fong carried “defamatory imputations” to his client.
When that wasn’t forthcoming by the deadline, Fuller filed an arbitration application on behalf of Moore with Football Federation Australia, claiming the Roar and Fong were in breach of several regulations.
Moore was also considering legal options under the Fair Work Act for being “unfairly treated as an employee”.
But after “numerous correspondences”, Moore has settled for a confidential deed of settlement in which the club formally acknowledged he was not responsible for the debacle.
“Our position has been that the defamatory publications and the erroneous allegation that Craig was somehow responsible for this debacle needed to be corrected,” Fuller said.
“The Roar acknowledge that Craig was not responsible and have provided a glowing reference that highlights his outstanding contribution to the club and to Australian football in general.”