Eels board faces removal as fallout from salary cap scandal grows

FOR the first time in Parramatta’s 69-year history, Eels members have lodged a motion proposing to overthrow the club’s board.

Parramatta chairman Steve Sharp is one of the “Gang of Five”.

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FOR the first time in Parramatta’s 69-year history, Eels members have lodged a motion proposing to overthrow the club’s board.

The move gives the Eels board a mere two months before they are set to be forcibly removed by Parramatta members at an extraordinary general meeting expected to be held in August or September.

The proposal to dump the board, put forward by Eels member Chris Losco after he obtained the signatures of 100 members, would have new directors recommended as part of a hiring process proposed to involve a recruitment firm, the NRL and Clubs NSW.

There are also believed to be separate proposals that could potentially piggyback on Mr Losco’s proposal, provided they can also get 100 signatures.

These are believed to involve proposing specific groups of candidates to replace board members.

The proposal comes at the worst possible time for the beleaguered board, also under siege from investigations by police, NSW Liquor and Gaming, and the Australian Taxation Office.

It also comes just days away from the final sanctions for salary cap abuse to be handed down by the NRL, which is expected to confirm its original sanctions against the club of a 12 competition point penalty, $1 million fine and individual punishments of the so-called “Gang of Five” — chairman Steve Sharp, chief executive John Boulous, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao and football boss Daniel Anderson.

The NRL investigation was sparked by The Daily Telegraph’s “Dodgy Deels” series of articles.

Mr Losco said yesterday he would not choose a team to stand against the current board.

“I’m not the best qualified person to select a board at Parramatta,” he said.

“We want to have people who are qualified and on the board for the right reasons. What we really need is for the club to repair its damaged relationship with its members, its fans, its sponsors and the NRL.”

The lodging of Mr Losco’s proposal comes a day after it emerged Eels director Tanya Gadiel had penned a legal letter against Phil Sim, a key agitator trying to overthrow the board and a key backer of Mr Losco’s EGM proposal.