Allianz Stadium row reignites between Sydney Roosters and Sydney FC over $152 tarpaulin

Roosters CEO Joe Kelly and his Sydney FC counterpart Adam Santo had a furious phone exchange on Tuesday – and the fresh stadium war erupted. Here’s what happened.

The "Home of the Sydney Roosters" sign at Allianz Stadium has been covered up by a $152 Bunnings tarpaulin.

Sydney’s latest stadium row could be solved by the simple flick of a power switch.

After a day of tense meetings, Venues NSW has decided to turn the lights off on the sign ‘Home of the Sydney Roosters’ at the northern end of Allianz Stadium whenever Sydney FC or the Waratahs are playing at the venue.

The Daily Telegraph had earlier revealed details of a bitter dispute between two of Sydney’s wealthiest and most powerful sporting officials - over a $150 Bunnings tarpaulin and a ‘cover-up’.

Long-time Roosters supremo Nick Politis is at war with Sydney FC’s A-League chairman Scott Barlow, whose clubs share the new $900 million Allianz stadium at Moore Park.

Sydney FC hosted their first home game at the venue last Saturday night and demanded the sign ‘Home of the Sydney Roosters’ be covered over on game day.

The "Home of the Sydney Roosters" sign at Allianz Stadium.

Fans arrived at the ground to find the Roosters’ branding had disappeared behind a shabbily erected tarpaulin, similar to one which sells at Bunning for $152.

Instead of covering over the sign, Venues NSW will in future turn the lighting off.

The Roosters are accustomed to territorial stadium battles with NRL rivals the South Sydney Rabbitohs but this one caught them by surprise.

On Tuesday the CEO’s of the two clubs – the Roosters’ Joe Kelly and Sydney FC’s Adam Santo – had a furious phone exchange over the issue.

The conversation was terminated when Santo hung up on Kelly.

“I told him what they’d done was the equivalent of vandalism,” Kelly said.

“I also told him we’d be looking at our legal options … then he hung up on me.”

A fuming Politis then contacted Venues NSW to express his disgust.

Meetings have been arranged for Wednesday to try to sort out the dispute.

The "Home of the Sydney Roosters" sign is covered up by a $152 Bunnings tarpaulin for Sydney FC’s home match.

Politis has left the country for the Rugby League World Cup in England but fired a shot at Sydney FC before he stepped onto the plane.

“It’s very, very petty,” Politis said, “They obviously don’t understand our history.

“We’ve been on this site with three stadiums for 86 years. How long have they been around?

“What they did with the tarpaulin looked so hideous on a beautiful new $900 million stadium.”

Politis insists the Roosters have an agreement in which their branding has to be permanently visible.

He revealed the club had paid $12.5 million to build their own centre of excellence and football offices at the venue as their home for the next 25 years.

Sydney Roosters Chairman Nick Politis is furious about the situation. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Sydney FC don’t understand,” Politis said.

“They just have a ground hire agreement.

“We paid for our own facilities and we pay rent for the space we use.

“It’s in our contract that the signage is part of that agreement.”

Barlow refused to return phone calls or text messages.

While Politis is worth $2.3 billion, Barlow is not short of quid himself.

He is married to the daughter of Russian billionaire David Traktovenko.

The couple sold their Point Piper home last year for almost $40 million.

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