Soccer: Kingz drop legal bid to win points in Boutsianis saga

SYDNEY - The Football Kingz lost again yesterday when the club abandoned legal action against Soccer Australia for its handling of the Con Boutsianis transfer saga.

The Kingz were considering going to court in a bid to get three competition points from South Melbourne, who played Boutsianis against them in January.

The Kingz claim they had an agreement that Boutsianis would not play against his former club. He did, and scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory.

The cost of pursuing litigation and an unwillingness to "further erode the credibility of the National Soccer League" prompted Kingz chairman Paul Smart to say yesterday that the Kingz would not take the matter any further.

Although the club's legal advice suggested court action would be successful, the cost of mounting a challenge would have had to be skimmed from the player budget for next season, he said.

The Kingz wanted Soccer Australia to resolve the dispute through a tribunal, but the organisation backtracked after taking legal advice, saying it was up to the clubs to sort the matter out themselves.

Smart maintained the Kingz had been treated unfairly, and said the matter should have been resolved by a tribunal, the normal procedure when clubs are in dispute.

Had South Melbourne lost the three points, Parramatta Power would have replaced them in this weekend's opening round of playoffs.

But Parramatta opted not to take legal action themselves, weakening the Kingz stance.

"In the circumstances we sympathise with Parramatta Power, who should be in the playoffs," said Smart.

"However, any further erosion of NSL credibility by delaying the playoffs is not in the best interests of the sport."

Kingz general manager Chris Turner was disappointed with the outcome and said he would push for the club to get a refund of the money it had paid to get a tribunal hearing.

"It sounds only fair and reasonable that we get our A$1000 [$1230] back," he said.

The club will pursue a separate action against Boutsianis in relation to the agreement it had with the midfielder which allowed him to return to South Melbourne.

- NZPA