NATHAN Tinkler last night claimed the A-League was doomed to fail and apologised to distraught Newcastle Jets fans and players for sensationally leaving them without a team.
A fired-up Tinkler though has vowed to staunchly stand-by the Newcastle Knights, telling concerned fans: "Don't be nervous."
"The Knights have always been in my heart since I was a kid and that has not changed. We have a great club that will continue to grow," Tinkler said.
Tinkler, the mining billionaire, took aim at the FFA last night, declaring soccer in Australia had been "bogged down in administration and dogged by ailing clubs for decades."
"Rugby league is an established product, which evolved through the Super League war to become the outstanding product it is today," he said.
"Soccer has an ownership model of established losses, a failure by the FFA to engage with communities and no sound commercial basis for its business relationships.
"These have combined to guarantee the A-League's failure in Australia.
"While the A-League is funded by the clubs' owners, they receive no input into the direction or governance of the game in Australia or the competition.
"That is a very different proposition to the NRL. A-League owners are 100 per cent accountable with absolutely no input into their own competition.
"It must change before more clubs are lost."
Asked would he walk from the Knights if a disagreement erupted with the NRL, Tinkler said: "No. We have full confidence in the current administration of the game (NRL), unlike the FFA."
Despite his unwavering stance against the FFA, Tinkler was still apologetic towards the Jets staff, fans and players, who have been left reeling by his decision.
"I feel as though we have let them down and I apologise for this," he said.
"However we were left with no choice by the FFA administration, which continues to not answer some pretty simple questions.
'We ran out of patience after months of being fobbed off by the FFA administration.
"They have not communicated the answers we have been seeking in regard to why we were charged a licence fee and commissions were paid, when other clubs were not charged a cent."
Matthew Johns, the former Newcastle star player, yesterday questioned Tinkler's loyalty.
He described Tinkler as a "volatile" man with "little patience."
"He is volatile and, in business terms, he is only loyal to success," said Johns, who publicly supported Tinkler's bid to buy Newcastle.
"Knights fans would certainly be happy to hear what is going on and to get some re-assurances. This (the Jets drama) happened so suddenly. It's enough to make anyone twitch."
Asked
did he regret publicly supporting Tinkler, Johns said: "I don't. I've got to be honest - the Newcastle Knights fans have every right to feel concerned. I wonder what Wayne Bennett is thinking this morning."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-doomed-a-league/story-e6frey4r-1226324321032
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