SOCCER
GSL
By samuel darroch
GIPPSLAND Soccer League chair David Wilson has defended the body’s disciplinary pathways in the wake of Fortuna 60’s appeal for a complete overhaul of the structure.
Fortuna president Dion Tanti called for changes to the system after Football Federation Victoria’s appeals board last week deemed the club’s now infamous penalty, issued by an independent tribunal over an incident of parent violence, as “manifestly excessive”.
Tanti claimed the club’s reputation had been dragged through the mud as a result of the initial ruling and pointed the finger at the GSL for providing what he believed to be irrelevant precedents used to form an aggressive punishment.
Wilson, however, said the GSL only provided information requested by the tribunal and stood by the existing process.
“They (the tribunal) request that information. Any individual that comes up for a penalty they want their history, to them it was important,” Wilson said.
“The whole key to all this is the whole process is independent. The GSL has no involvement.
“Our input is we answer (the tribunal’s) requests. Information it wants from us with regards to any individual club or official, we supply that.
“Whether they got it wrong or right is not for us to say. We still go through an independent person, he has no impact on us, he never consults us.”
Wilson said that while Fortuna’s sentence, which originally had serious club-wide ramifications, was deemed blatantly exorbitant by the FFV appeals board, he was satisfied that the disciplinary process had worked effectively.
“The system we have in place is appropriate and the system has worked in my respect, in terms of the process I don’t think it needs any tweaking at all, it’s exactly what we want,” he said.
“They’ve (Fortuna) got to understand that they are guilty, they’re not innocent.
“Their belief that the system is wrong, that is their belief; the GSL feels the system is fine and working as it should.”
Fortuna was originally fined $2500 and suspended from all levels of 2014 GSL central competitions, excluding small-sided juniors, for the opening three rounds with a 3-0 result to be awarded against them in those fixtures.
The FFV appeals board last week reduced the fine to $1000, repealed the three match suspension and deemed no goals be awarded against any of the club’s teams.
Only the junior team related to the incident in question will be docked three points.
The GSL will hold its annual general meeting next month.
