Soccer: Kingz show fancy footwork

by Terry Maddaford

When is Football Kingz boss Chris Turner going to stand up and tell it as it really is?

The master of saying plenty but really nothing at all is at it again.

The latest "will he, won't he" announcement by Turner - supposedly of an equity partner, backer or call it what you want - is becoming another of those ongoing sagas sadly reminiscent of the dramas the club endured before eventually naming a sponsor/sponsors last year.

Turner is in his "tomorrow" - it used to be "next week" - mode when questioned about a likely announcement of the club's new partner.

"It has always been tomorrow," Turner admitted yesterday. "I thought it would be today [yesterday]. But it has not been signed and sealed.

"Until it is there is nothing to say but I can see no reason why it will not be tomorrow [today]."

He has also tossed in his favourite "bottom line" line when asked why nothing has been said on what is obviously a key component in the club's survival and future. The "bottom line," is that "nothing is signed" and "when it is, you will be among the first to know."

The public announcement of Sky Television - a sure bet - as the club's backers will beg as many questions as answers. Turner, ever-glib, is saying plenty of nothing.

Questions will surely be asked of the new partner.

Will Turner and other directors survive any ownership change? Will the money the new backers fork out cover the money the club owes? Will coaches Wynton and Shane Rufer survive beyond their initial one-year contracts?

He said there were "one or two legal matters" to be tidied up with the National Soccer League owners Soccer Australia (by today) before any announcement.

Turner could have a busy Thursday as he is due to meet Oceania Football Confederation boss Charlie Dempsey this morning "to see if he has any concerns" over the club.

"The bottom line is the Football Kingz have been granted a five-year licence but only a two-year deal from Fifa," said Turner. "Nothing has changed."

Dempsey said talk of "concerns" by him were a load of rubbish. The meeting, he says, is just a chance for Turner to bring him up to date.

He knew nothing about what was going on.

"I'm off to the US next week and then to Zurich for a Fifa meeting," he said. "I can't go to the executive and tell them I don't know if I'm asked about the Kingz.

"Nobody at Fifa wanted the Kingz to play in Australia. They were lucky I was able to get them a couple of years.

"I told the Fifa they deserved two years [in the NSL] to recoup the money they had spent to get up and running.

"But nobody believed me when I told them [the Kingz] it was only two years - on a sympathy vote."