Culina, Jets and FFA reach resolution
Related coverage
Football Federation Australia (FFA), Newcastle and Jason Culina have ended a long-running battle over the A-League club’s shock sacking of the former Socceroo.
Culina was dismissed by the Jets on the eve of the 2011-12 A-League season, with the club citing medical concerns over their marquee man’s surgically repaired right knee.
The ensuing wrangle became more complicated when the Jets lodged a complaint under FFA’s grievance-resolution regulations in January – claiming the governing body negligently allowed Culina to play for Gold Coast United without appropriate insurance.
Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) chief executive Brendan Schwab declared on Wednesday the parties had reached a resolution.
“The PFA is pleased that FFA, Newcastle Jets and Jason have reached a settlement by mutual agreement, the commercial terms of which are confidential,” Schwab said in a statement.
“As a result, Jason’s employment agreement with the Jets has also been terminated and he is free to continue his playing career elsewhere in the A-League.”
Culina was happy to put the matter to bed and is confident he’ll return to the A-League soon.
“I look forward to resuming my playing career as soon as I have completed my rehabilitation, which is proceeding very well,” Culina said.
“I would like to acknowledge the efforts of FFA and the Newcastle Jets to achieve a settlement and to avoid further legal proceedings.
“I would also like to thank the PFA for the support it has shown me throughout.”
As a result of the resolution, the scheduled June hearings of the National Dispute Resolution Chamber under the A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement will not proceed.
© AAP 2013Sport, all day long. Does this sound too good to be true? We're searching for a Group Sales Manager to lead our team in Sydney. If you're a sales star who doesn't mind a hit, kick, throw, or cycle, we want to hear from you. Apply now.
The Crowd Says (24) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- A-League, football, Football Federation Australia, Newcastle Jets
June 7th 2012 @ 8:01am
The Cattery said | June 7th 2012 @ 8:01am | Report comment
Good to hear that this has been sorted out and that Jase will be ready to join a new club. He still has plenty to offer the A-League. All the best to Jase.
June 7th 2012 @ 9:15am
Lucan said | June 7th 2012 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Is a good news story.
Waiting for the usual suspects to start speculating who won, and who lost. Am happy the three parties have reached an agreement, and Jason can move forward.
June 7th 2012 @ 10:10am
Futbanous said | June 7th 2012 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Forget Judge Judy whos he gunna play for?
More to the point will he be capable of playing at the same level again?
June 7th 2012 @ 12:23pm
nice said | June 7th 2012 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
will he be capable of playing at the same level again?
doubt it.
even before he got his last injury his form (since coming back from os to the al) for the national team showed a marked decline.
June 7th 2012 @ 10:28am
Realfootball said | June 7th 2012 @ 10:28am | Report comment
What a fantastic replacement for Kisel he would be for Sydney.
Which sounds on the cards if he is training with them.
June 7th 2012 @ 11:47am
Atawhai Drive said | June 7th 2012 @ 11:47am | Report comment
He might be in the sights of the western Sydney team.
Then again, he might not be interested in a one-year deal. According to Les Murray, that’s all western Sydney is offering to any prospective player.
June 7th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Midfielder said | June 7th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
HHHHHMMMMMM I bet anything if the one year deal for all players signed is true …. Club Manager & Coach have five year deals … me thinks a number of off guards from other clubs and some state league hopefuls would be the one year contracts…
A mate of a mate was told in the pub and I pass it on with that as the source… obviously little is confirmed
Executive Chairman – Lyall Gorman
General Manager – John Tsatsimas
Football Operations Manager – Craig Moore
Manager – Tony Popovic
Assistant Manager – Ante Milicic
Goalkeeping Coach – Ron Corry
Michael Beauchamp
Nikolai Topor-Stanley
Tarek Elrich
Shannon Cole
Mark Bridge
Labinot Haliti
June 7th 2012 @ 2:58pm
Kasey said | June 7th 2012 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
It is sad to see how far old Les has stooped. First there was the ‘ Lucas Neill World Cup Mutiny’ he fabricated to sell a few books, then he writes an opinion Piece based on a rumour(1yr deals) that itself was an unsubstantiated rumour in another SBS opinion piece. Maybe I’m being harsh on the old fool, perhaps I’ll just wait until the WS team start signing players to 2-3 year deals before I actually laugh out loud at poor old Les.
June 7th 2012 @ 3:13pm
Atawhai Drive said | June 7th 2012 @ 3:13pm | Report comment
Kasey, I know that Les has a bit of form, as it were. The Lucas Neill drama was not his finest hour.
But are you saying that he is definitely wrong on one-year deals at Western Sydney?
How many players have been signed so far by Western Sydney? And on what terms?
June 7th 2012 @ 3:19pm
Kasey said | June 7th 2012 @ 3:19pm | Report comment
I’m saying that Les appears to be struggling for relevant things to write about and has filled a vacuum that the WS team themselves have created in not yet officially signing/announcing anybody/anything with some unsubstantiated semi-believable garbage knowing that fans desperate for any content to do with the new team will eat it up. I further reference SBS’s guttertripe trolling of those fans with the garbage(since confirmed as such by the Tele’s Tom Smithies) that the new team will be called Soul or Pride. Kick a hornets nest and watch the page hits come flying in – its a page right out of News Limited’s playbook. I used to respect Les, but his standing in the football community and in my eyes has really taken a hit over the past 3 years.
June 7th 2012 @ 4:10pm
nice said | June 7th 2012 @ 4:10pm | Report comment
kasey, no, you’re not being harsh enough on ‘the old fool’…
atawhai, stick to rugby (the game they play on the north shore)…
June 7th 2012 @ 4:57pm
Atawhai Drive said | June 7th 2012 @ 4:57pm | Report comment
Nice, why should I stick to rugby, given that I’ve been a member of Sydney FC since season 2 of the A-League and will sign up again for next season? Despite that, I’m hoping the Western Sydney team hits the ground running from day one of the 2012-13 season.
Perhaps you thought my question about who has been signed by Western Sydney was evidence of some kind of anti-football or anti-Western Sydney agenda. Not at all.
June 7th 2012 @ 3:13pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | June 7th 2012 @ 3:13pm | Report comment
The funny thing about Les’s article, he tried to suggest that, if a club only offers 1-year deals: “It means that no player of ambition will join a club that doesn’t want to take risks, a club that has no ambition itself.”
Interestingly, Besart Berisha – a player, who won the Golden Boot last season, scored both goals for the winners in the HAL GF and was runner-up in the Johnny Warren medal – was signed by Brisbane Roar on a 1 year deal.
From what I observed, Besart was the benchmark for what we should expect of every HAL player, in terms of: ambition, work-rate & consistent performances.
In fact, we often observe players, who are on multiple-year contracts, suddenly seem to work harder & find form in the final year of their deal.
Les is way off the mark with this one
June 7th 2012 @ 12:35pm
The Cattery said | June 7th 2012 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
Red Star Belgrade has just signed Eli Babalj on a two year deal.
June 7th 2012 @ 12:43pm
nice said | June 7th 2012 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
i’d like to see a player dominate in the aleague for once before heading overseas. you know, like viduka did.
red star belgrade aren’t much chop these days. i don’t see the serbian league as a huge step up from the aleague. my immediate thoughts were of the racism endemic in that society. i don’t think it will be easy off the field for him.
June 7th 2012 @ 1:41pm
Futbanous said | June 7th 2012 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
That would be ideal & it raises the question regarding home bred Aussies & the A-League.
In general do players in Europe leave their homeland to chance their arm in a higher league before they’ve established themselves as outstanding at home first?
Or is the norm to be recognised as talented in their home league & offers are made from clubs in bigger leagues? for example Eden Hazard from Belgium to Lille to Chelsea.
Strikes me that Australian players leave for Europe as the perception is that as a football bloc its the place to be & the A-League(& predecessor NSL) are not.
Many are ending up back here with their tail between their legs, we all know the examples.
So would Eden Hazard if he had the same perceptions of the Belgian/French leagues in relation to the Premier league have left to trial with Chelsea at a tender age & would he have made it then?
Does anybody believe that Amini or Mitch Nichols or indeed Eli Babalj for instance are ready to leave the A-League because you observed they were outstanding like Dukes who proved it overseas & to a lesser degree Brett Emerton ,Stan Lazaridis even Robbie Slater?
Harry Kewell has come out today & said the A-league is better than he thought. He said:-
When I was speaking to a lot of players about going back (to the A-league) they were saying ‘it’s easy’ and this, that and the other,” Kewell said.
“But I’ve found it to be the complete opposite. I found it fast, I found it furious. The strength was there, the power was there.
“It was different to everything people had told me it was. It’s a tough little league and I want to be able to correct what we (Victory) didn’t achieve this year.”
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1108703/Kewell-makes-A-League-confession
So this is a guy with for me the best technique along with Dukes of any Australian player giving it Kudos.
Sure he’s lost his speed but technique football nous he aint.
So sure its not the EPL or La Liga but is it any worse than the Belgium League?
June 7th 2012 @ 1:58pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | June 7th 2012 @ 1:58pm | Report comment
I agree totally – I think AUS players are too quick to leave the HAL. In my opinion, Babalj has done nothing so far. For sure he oozes talent but, as far as I’m concerned, he didn’t dominate the HAL.
Perhaps, a MHT fan can tell us if Babalj even dominated a single MHT match last season?
I would like Aussie players to take the HAL by storm – e.g. dominate matches like Carlos, Ifill, Broich, Berisha, Smeltz – before they think about going o/s.
Amini is now off to Dortmund. Unless he improves his work rate on the park, he’ll either come back to the HAL very quickly or he’ll be lost in the lower leagues of Europe never to fulfill his potential.
June 7th 2012 @ 4:13pm
nice said | June 7th 2012 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
amini has never impressed upon me anything but his mediocrity. i think dortmund bought him thinking he was a certain columbian midfielder reinicarnated.
June 7th 2012 @ 4:46pm
Realfootball said | June 7th 2012 @ 4:46pm | Report comment
Agree. The hype around this kid has mystified me.
June 7th 2012 @ 10:35pm
apaway said | June 7th 2012 @ 10:35pm | Report comment
Fuss
I agree totally that Australian players leave too soon. However, there are two distinct reasons for their leaving. The obvious one is money. Whatever Red Star offered Babalj, it was probably more than what he was getting in the A-League. The other is adventure. Players get to ply their trade in a foreign country, live in a different culture. Hundreds of Aussies do it and we don’t hear about the vast majority of them.
It would be extremely hard to convince a young bloke with stars in his eyes to put off his overseas adventures. Maybe we need to get Scott Chipperfield to have a word with them; without doubt the most grounded, down-to-earth pragmatic player to go to Europe.
June 7th 2012 @ 2:03pm
TomC said | June 7th 2012 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
That’s a huge shame. Great player to watch.
And I agree with the other comments that Babalj is probably leaving a bit too early. Belgrade is a tough environment for a young man.
On Culina, I would love to see him in a Victory shirt! We are crying out for a central midfielder who can, you know, pass the ball.
June 7th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Ian Whitchurch said | June 7th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Good to hear this all got sorted.
June 7th 2012 @ 1:29pm
Australian Rules said | June 7th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Finally.
This was an ugly chapter that needed to be resolved…for the player, club and more broadly, the League.
Hope Jason gets back to playing for another club soon.
June 7th 2012 @ 2:24pm
The Cattery said | June 7th 2012 @ 2:24pm | Report comment
Glory to play three blockbuster games at Subi:
http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/soccer/perth-glory-to-play-three-patersons-stadium-games-in-2012-13/story-e6frg26u-1226387470765?from=public_rss