‘Disappointed’ Macarthur FC to pay former coach Dwight Yorke almost $300k in compensation
Rather than be banned by FIFA until mid-2026 from signing players, Macarthur FC will pay the club’s former high-profile coach a compensation fee.
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Macarthur FC will pay its former coach Dwight Yorke almost $300,000 in compensation to avoid being banned by FIFA from signing players until the middle of 2026.
Former Manchester United star Yorke was sacked by the Bulls in January 2023 after allegedly describing Macarthur as a “pub team” and “hopeless from top to bottom” in a fiery spray following a 1-0 A-League loss to Adelaide United.
Despite thanking club officials and owners at the time, Yorke claimed he was unfairly axed and eventually took his case to FIFA’s tribunal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Last month, CAS upheld a FIFA ruling that Macarthur breached Yorke’s contract by sacking him “without just cause”.
FIFA has since announced that the Bulls will be banned in taking part in the next three international transfer windows unless Yorke is paid $290,000, plus interest, in damages.
Macarthur chief executive Sam Krslovic said on Thursday the Bulls would resolve the matter by paying Yorke the money, “pending legal advice”, in the upcoming weeks to allow them to be involved in the next transfer window, which starts in January.
“(But) the club is disappointed in the way this has all played out and is disappointed that FIFA doesn’t see anything incorrect about negative cultural behaviour,” Krslovic said.
“We are now in a culturally better place as a club.
“This won’t affect us. We’ve catered for it and budgeted for it. We’re in a positive position.”
The Bulls were last season rocked by a betting scandal that implicated three players – Ulises Davila, Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis – for deliberately receiving yellow cards.
The trio is set to face court later this month.
The Bulls terminated Davila’s contract and also parted ways with Baccus.
Lewis also had his contract terminated but after taking the matter to a Football Australia tribunal forced the Bulls to reinstate him, with his status understood to be suspended by the club without pay.
Originally published as ‘Disappointed’ Macarthur FC to pay former coach Dwight Yorke almost $300k in compensation
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