A Lowy blow as Clive Palmer pays the penalty in billionaires' shootout

CLIVE Palmer today claimed fellow billionaire Frank Lowy asked him for $5m dollars to establish a second Sydney team in the A-League.

United CEO Clive Palmer

CLIVE Palmer today claimed fellow billionaire Frank Lowy asked him for $5m dollars to establish a second Sydney team in the A-League before axing Gold Coast from the competition.

An outraged Mr Palmer vowed to fight for the survival of Gold Coast United which was yesterday sensational kicked out of the national competition by the Football Federation Australia, which is chaired by Mr Lowy.

The mining magnate said he had the “time, money and resources” to “protect his business” indicating he was prepared for a lengthy fight with Mr Lowy and the FFA.

When asked whether his statement of yesterday that Mr Lowy was "an institution who now belongs in an institution" was personal he said “people in their 80s should and look back at what they have achieved”.

The verbal stoush between the Mr Palmer, with an estimated worth of $5.05 billion according to the BRW rich list, and Mr Lowy, who is listed at having his fortune valued at $4.68bn, took a new twist with Mr Palmer claim about the proposed second Sydney team.

“I had telephone call from Frank Lowy two weeks ago and he asked would I give him a donation of $5m for a western Sydney club and wind up the Gold Coast. I said to him I wouldn’t because I was loyal to the Gold Coast Coast and I didn’t want to give Mr Lowy $5m dollars and he said that was a very unsatisfactory call,” Mr Palmer told ABC radio.  

Mr Lowy would not comment on the claim but indicated he would respond after Mr Palmer's scheduled press conference this afternoon.  

The issue of the Gold Coast club that brought to a head the tensions was Mr Palmer's defiance of an FFA directive to remove the slogan "Freedom of Speech" from his players' jerseys and signage at their home ground.

The logo had been introduced by the burly Queenslander to highlight his claims that FFA was trying to gag him after he criticised its running of the A-League and the business model imposed on clubs. A second franchise owner, former coalmine owner and businessman Nathan Tinkler, complained he had been overcharged when he paid $5 million for the Newcastle Jets licence.

Mr Lowy insisted the action against Gold Coast United was to protect the wider interests of the A-League.

"We can't let anybody thumb their noses at us, saying 'We're going to do what we want to do, but I want to stay'," he said.

Mr Palmer had beaten him to the punch by tweeting the news of the licence termination before Mr Lowy could front the cameras.

Mr Palmer followed up by announcing on Twitter: "We intend to fight this ludicrous decision by incompetent FFA in the courts. Frank Lowy is an institution who now belongs in an institution."

The FFA boss said the "material breach" of the Gold Coast players turning out on Saturday in the banned strip was compounded by their owner's insistence that the Freedom of Speech logo would stay.

"This behaviour came on top of public comments that displayed a total lack of respect for football and the millions of Australians who love the game," Mr Lowy said. "Such disrespectful behaviour, a flagrant disregard for the rules and a stated intent to continue breaking the rules made for an intolerable situation.

"As custodians of the game, we had to act to protect the integrity of the Hyundai A-League on behalf of the other nine clubs, players, coaches and, most importantly, the fans."

Mr Lowy dismissed the court action flagged by Mr Palmer, saying FFA had "rock-solid legal advice" that it had been entitled to pull his club's licence.

"I tried to talk to him but I couldn't," Mr Lowy said. "But we can't be in this limbo where we are now."

Mr Palmer's deal with FFA gave him another two years on the Gold Coast United licence. After a reasonably bright start under his ownership, the club endured a miserable season this year and is currently bottom of the 10-side A-league, having recently chalked up a near all-time low game attendance for the A-League of just 1141. Its scheduled game in New Zealand this weekend against the Phoenix in Wellington may be postponed.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley accused Mr Palmer of trying to manufacture an excuse to fold the club.

Additional reporting: AAP