Gaza Football Club to cop major penalties for salary cap breaches

The Gaza Football Club will pay a huge price on and off the footy field after being found guilty of 223 charges of salary cap breaches. See the penalties.

The Gaza Football Club has learned its fate, with penalties being handed down after the Eagles were found guilty by an independent SANFL tribunal on 223 counts of salary breaches from 2018 to 2022.

Justice Michael David KC – the independent Salary Cap Commissioner – made recommendations on penalties to the SA Football Commission on Tuesday night after finding the club guilty of all charges laid by SANFL involving player payments, total player match payment and sign-on breaches, as well as false contracts throughout the 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 Adelaide Footy League seasons.

He recommended the club should be fined a total of $186,000 for the breaches.

The club is also set to be docked six premiership points for the 2024 season and will be stripped of six Approved Player Points System points used to recruit players.

The Gaza Football Club is set to receive a $186,000 fine for salary cap breaches dating back to 2018. Picture: File

Former club president Don Rosella, who was found guilty of involvement in the breaches during 2021 and 2022 and resigned from his role last week, is set to be handed a five-year ban from holding any official role with a SANFL-affiliated club.

The penalties, including the structure of payment of the fine, are set to be considered and then ratified by the SA Football Commission next week.

They may also be altered by the Commission ahead of next week if it sees fit.

Justice David said a $186,000 fine would not be as catastrophic as the original $380,000 fine but would also be a major deterrent for SA’s local clubs.

“The salary cap rules of the SANFL are there to protect the integrity and survival of local football. They must not be treated with contempt,” he added.

Two weeks ago, the independent tribunal heard six Gaza players from that period, some of whom were paid up to $600 more than the weekly limit, made statements to SANFL investigators detailing payments by the club on top of what their contracts stated, which were used as evidence against the club by lawyers Andrew Culshaw and Garry Palasis.

Former Gaza president Don Rosella is facing a five-year ban from holding an official role with any SANFL-affiliated club. Picture: Mark Brake

Text messages containing discussions around payment amounts between club players and officials, which were provided to SANFL investigators by a Gaza player, were also used as evidence.

The club was found to have deliberately breached weekly individual player payment limits of $400 as well as total player payment limits of $2500 in each of the four years, exceeding as much as double the allowed amount in every week of the 2022 season.

At the SANFL tribunal hearing, Mr Rosella, represented by lawyer Greg Griffin, claimed he caught wind of breaches before becoming president in 2020 and tried to stop them by removing certain people from the club.

“The president and the treasurer were removed and I was voted in as president,” Mr Rosella said.

“As a consequence of his (Rosella’s) hard line position, he was completely kept out of the loop by the football department and had nothing to do with the payments,” Mr Griffin later added.

“Weak coaches and weak club officials sat back and let it happen.”

Gaza went into the tribunal hearing facing a potential $380,000 fine and deduction of premiership and player points.

Mr Rosella also revealed the Eagles were in $80,000 worth of debt during his cross-examination, fuelling fears the club would be unable to pay the fine.