36ers players yet to receive incidental entitlements after nine NBL rounds

Adelaide 36ers CEO Nic Barbato says the club will start to reimburse players their full entitlements after delaying paying players the travel allowance to start the season.

Adelaide 36ers CEO Nic Barbato says the club will start to reimburse players their full entitlements after delaying paying players the $22-a-day travel allowance over the opening nine rounds of the season.

Code Sports has been investigating the 36ers over revelations players are yet to receive an incidental entitlement which was included in the new CBA.

Under the agreement with the players and the clubs, the players are entitled to claim up to $22 a day for out of pocket expenses while travelling.

It’s understood the incidental payments for each team amounts to between $6000 and $7000 over the course of the season.

Questions were put to the club on Thursday about the unpaid expense claims and Barbato explained the two-month delay in expenses was because the club received no clarity on payable incidentals from the NBL or the Players’ Association.

He says this forced the club to, “do the work ourselves” after reaching out to the ATO for a policy they could implement.

Sources confirm the club responded with an email to all players approximately 10 minutes after Code Sports had spoken to the club, outlining what they can claim based on the ATO’s expenses list.

Adelaide 36ers CEO Nic Barbato. Picture: Tom Huntley

Asked if the out-of-pocket 36ers players will now be reimbursed, Barbato said: “If it is a claimable expense, for sure, yes.

“We don’t want to be paying things that we shouldn’t, but also we’ll pay things that are the right incidentals.

“I asked our finance department to ask if we were in line with ATO rules. They produced a policy based on ATO rules on what is and isn’t claimable as an incidental and that has just gone out to the players with the view that if they have any issues they can come back to the finance department and have a discussion.

“We’re trying to go through it systematically and in the right way.”

Barbato said he hasn’t heard from the players or the Players’ Association about the unpaid incidental payments.

Code Sports understands players unknowingly used the new entitlement during the pre-season NBL Blitz on the Gold Coast when the players provided receipts for purchases like a pair of shoes and were knocked back.

It’s understood the players haven’t wrongly used the travel entitlement since then.

It’s believed players have been asked to provide receipts for incidentals like coffee and snacks – and while the players have obliged with the receipts – at the time of publication the players had yet to be reimbursed for the expenses.

The 36ers recently fired CJ Bruton. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

Frustrated Adelaide players have flagged the issue with the Australian Basketball Players’ Association (ABPA).

It comes as the 36ers parted ways with head coach CJ Bruton on Wednesday following a disappointing 4-9 start to the season.

Adelaide club legend Scott Ninnis has been named interim coach following Bruton’s departure.

The 36ers host the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night from 8pm (AEDT).