Football Federation Australia has fired back at claims the governing body is responsible for ensuring injured Socceroo star Jason Culina was insured by his A-League club.
The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) on Thursday served the FFA with legal papers on behalf of Culina – reportedly suing them for $1.7 million – after it was revealed that the midfielder had not been insured since his return to the the A-League in 2009 with Gold Coast.
The PFA claims in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement, the FFA has to ensure that insurance is in place to cover wages for at least two years in the event a player is injured.
The FFA hands this responsibility to the clubs in their licence agreements, but the players’ union is arguing the FFA still has the responsibility to make sure the premiums are paid by the club.
“The PFA is trying to make out that this situation involving Jason Culina can be boiled down to a dispute between FFA and Jason over insurance,” said FFA Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Kyle Patterson.
“This assertion is a red herring, a quite mischievous distraction from what’s happening. You have to question the PFA’s motives in running this line through the media.
“Our advice is that the Newcastle Jets have been meeting their obligations under Jason’s contract, as they should.
“We also understand that Jason is working hard on his rehabilitation in order to get back into action.”
And while the FFA would not discuss Culina’s case specifically they made a point of clarifying the terms regarding insurance for marquee players in the A-League.
“Any club that decides to contract a marquee player does so knowing they are responsible for all costs, including insurance, and any liabilities arising from that engagement,” the FFA said in a statement.
“The cost of marquee players, as with the benefits, rest with the individual club, not the FFA or the A-League or other clubs.”
Culina suffered a serious knee injury representing the Socceroos in January, while he was contracted to Gold Coast.
After surgery, he signed a three-year $2.65 million deal with Newcastle but was ruled out indefinitely before even playing a game for his new club after suffering an injury in the pre-season.
Just four days out from the start of the A-League season in October, the Jets announced they had sacked his coach and father Branko Culina and would seek to have Jason’s multi-million dollar contract “set aside” amid fears he would never play again.
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