A-League player’s drunken joyride during lockdown

An A-League football club is in disgrace after two players broke their coronavirus quarantine, took a golf buggy and allegedly drove shirtless on a busy Sydney road while drunk.

NZ international Tim Payne is alleged to have taken a golf buggy while drunk

An A-League football club is in disgrace after two players broke their coronavirus quarantine, took a golf buggy and allegedly drove shirtless on a busy Sydney road while drunk.

The Australian can reveal Wellington Phoenix and New Zealand international Tim Payne was arrested by NSW Police while joyriding in the buggy at 1am on Tuesday on Wakehurst Parkway on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Payne blew mid-range PCA and was taken back to Mona Vale police station. He is due to front court in Sydney in June. Teammate Oliver Sail was also in the golf buggy but wasn’t arrested.

Wellington were based at the Sydney Academy of Sport, Narrabeen, while in self-isolation to play A-League games. The pair is alleged to have taken the golf buggy from the academy.

The competition has now been suspended with Phoenix players returning home to New Zealand on Tuesday.

Concerned car passengers who drove past the buggy rang and complained to police before a patrol car spotted the pair minutes later near Oxford Falls Road, about 5km from the academy.

Passengers who contacted The Australian said the players were shirtless with Paine driving.

Phoenix officials are furious the two players broke quarantine at such a sensitive time. The team was in a two-week lockdown so the A-League competition could continue.

Sail, the 24-year-old Phoenix goalkeeper, is also a New Zealand national representative.

Academy management was considering further action against the pair for taking off in the golf buggy. Payne, 26, a Phoenix midfielder, could avoid attending court in Sydney by lodging his plea from New Zealand in absence.

Police eventually dropped the pair back to the academy accommodation. There didn’t appear to be any damage to the golf buggy.

A Phoenix spokesman said: “We don’t have any comment to make at this time.”

Phoenix officials are expected to take serious action against the two players while FFA will also investigate the incident. Insiders claim the pair could face a heavy fine or suspension when the A-League competition resumes.

Wellington were running third on A-League competition ladder behind Sydney FC and Melbourne City when the competition was halted. The A-League was formally suspended on Tuesday.

The Daily Telegraph