There's been a big development in Australian football, with playoff contenders Perth Glory being banned from this year's A-League finals series.
The Perth club's been found guilty of salary cap breaches, and has also been fined $273,000.
Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop Photo: Photosport
The Glory, currently second on the ladder, host fifth-placed Sydney FC on Friday night in what would've been a crucial match in the battle for final playoff positions.
The Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop says Perth deliberately hid salary cap rorting for three seasons and deserved to be banned from this year's finals.
Gallop says the club's now-disgraced management is likely to be removed in the wake of the rorting.
The Glory have seven business days to lodge any appeal.
"The breach this season involves the deliberate failure to disclose payments and benefits to at least six players," Gallop told reporters.
"We cannot have a club that is deliberately, significantly and persistently breaching those obligations of playing for the championship... where you've got deliberate concealment, you need to impose strict penalties to send a deterrent."
"Certainly it would be clear that the management have engaged in these practices and, in our view, it would be unlikely that management would stay in place."
The FFA found Perth deliberately failed to disclose payments and benefits to at least six players, saying the club was more than $400,000 over the $2.59 million salary cap during the three seasons.
Gallop says the Glory will be demoted to seventh at the end of the regulation rounds.
That scenario would put Brisbane Roar, currently seventh, into the finals.
The FFA say that in addition to the deliberate salary cap breaches, the Glory also broke rules regarding the disclosure of payments in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons.
The governing body says Perth were guilty of three breaches including payments outside of a standard player contract; payments to a player's family member; payments of travel costs; provision of motor vehicles; and accommodation benefits.
