Times Online - Newspaper Edition
Leeds suffer Viduka backlash
By Rick Broadbent
IT MIGHT sound like a scene from a cheap soap opera, with the protagonist being accused of wooden acting and allegations of a Mickey Mouse storyline, but Leeds United were taking legal advice last night after blaming the Australian Soccer Association (ASA) for making a crisis out of a melodrama.
A club-versus-country dispute may be nothing new, but the twist in the curious tale of Mark Viduka resulted in Trevor Birch, the Leeds chief executive, using emotive words such as “outrage”, “disgrace” and “justice”. He also questioned whether the ASA was in breach of employment law by invoking a rule that means Leeds will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow without their top striker.
The ASA stoked the fire when it announced that Viduka and Scott Chipperfield, the FC Basle midfield player, would be banned from playing for their clubs for five days after their failure to report for Wednesday’s friendly against Venezuela in Caracas.
By utilising Article 40 of the Fifa Regulations — used in the past by African nations — the ASA effectively called Leeds and Viduka liars for inventing a phantom hamstring injury.
Leeds are incensed by the arbitrary enforcement of the rule that means Viduka is banned while Harry Kewell, Josip Skoko, John Aloisi and Brett Emerton are free to play for their clubs, despite pulling out of the same friendly. Birch says that Leeds “played it by the book” and that documents were faxed to Australia, but their pleas for compassion fell on deaf ears.
“The survival of Leeds United is in jeopardy and we have this, all for the sake of a Mickey Mouse game that took place at the other side of the world,” Birch said. “Where is the justice in that? They have made a decision on a whim and we all have to suffer.
We’re powerless to do anything. This match was a money-spinning exercise for them and they wanted one of our assets. Well, let them buy into his contract then.
“If it’s a rule, it’s a rule. You are either banned for five days or not. So let’s see what action is taken when Harry Kewell plays (for Liverpool) this weekend.”
For the ASA to sacrifice the last vestiges of a relationship with Leeds on the altar of national pride was a surprise, given Viduka’s personal situation. He recently spent three weeks in Australia while his father lay in a coma. Leeds granted the player indefinite leave at a vital time for the club and Viduka said that he wanted to repay their support. In such circumstances, it is scarcely surprising that Leeds were unwilling to let him take a 26-hour return trip for a meaningless game.
The hamstring alibi may have smacked of opportunism, but Leeds are not alone in that respect and greater understanding from the ASA might have rendered it unnecessary. Sven-Göran Eriksson, the England head coach, could confidently cast aspersions on Sol Campbell’s habit of missing non-competitive games, but he appreciates the need to build bridges rather than burn them regarding friendlies. Viduka said that he would not quit international football but admitted to being “extremely disappointed” with the ASA.
“Leeds officials requested that I be withdrawn over an injury picked up against Wolves,” he said. “At that time I also had an open and honest dialogue with the ASA expressing my thoughts that this game had come at the wrong time for me due to my recent personal circumstances; a time when I feel I need to be with and available to my family.”
It has often been hard to sympathise with a club that has lurched between the frying pan and the fire with a myopic zeal, but the latest debacle appears an unwarranted burden. “I’d understand it if Mark told them where to stick international football now,” Birch said. “They don’t deserve someone like him.”
Leeds have been here before when, coincidentally, Kewell was the player subjected to the five-day rule. Having missed an international against Brazil in 1999, Kewell was prevented from playing in a Premiership match against Bradford City.The ASA said that it accepted the difficulties involved in travelling and that it planned to establish a European base, but Frank Lowry, the chairman, was in bullish mood. “We are not punishing Viduka but we are making a statement to the world,” he said.
An ASA statement, issued after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in Caracas, said that the association empathised with Viduka’s personal situation, but noted that he had played twice since returning to Leeds. “Furthermore, the ASA is not satisfied that Mark has sustained an injury which would have prevented him taking the field in Caracas,” it read.
For Birch, being caught in “friendly fire” is the latest plot twist at a club that just cannot contrive a happy ending. Tomorrow, at the home of their most bitter rivals, the depression is likely to deepen.
Leeds suffer Viduka backlash
By Rick Broadbent
IT MIGHT sound like a scene from a cheap soap opera, with the protagonist being accused of wooden acting and allegations of a Mickey Mouse storyline, but Leeds United were taking legal advice last night after blaming the Australian Soccer Association (ASA) for making a crisis out of a melodrama.
A club-versus-country dispute may be nothing new, but the twist in the curious tale of Mark Viduka resulted in Trevor Birch, the Leeds chief executive, using emotive words such as “outrage”, “disgrace” and “justice”. He also questioned whether the ASA was in breach of employment law by invoking a rule that means Leeds will take on Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow without their top striker.
The ASA stoked the fire when it announced that Viduka and Scott Chipperfield, the FC Basle midfield player, would be banned from playing for their clubs for five days after their failure to report for Wednesday’s friendly against Venezuela in Caracas.
By utilising Article 40 of the Fifa Regulations — used in the past by African nations — the ASA effectively called Leeds and Viduka liars for inventing a phantom hamstring injury.
Leeds are incensed by the arbitrary enforcement of the rule that means Viduka is banned while Harry Kewell, Josip Skoko, John Aloisi and Brett Emerton are free to play for their clubs, despite pulling out of the same friendly. Birch says that Leeds “played it by the book” and that documents were faxed to Australia, but their pleas for compassion fell on deaf ears.
“The survival of Leeds United is in jeopardy and we have this, all for the sake of a Mickey Mouse game that took place at the other side of the world,” Birch said. “Where is the justice in that? They have made a decision on a whim and we all have to suffer.
We’re powerless to do anything. This match was a money-spinning exercise for them and they wanted one of our assets. Well, let them buy into his contract then.
“If it’s a rule, it’s a rule. You are either banned for five days or not. So let’s see what action is taken when Harry Kewell plays (for Liverpool) this weekend.”
For the ASA to sacrifice the last vestiges of a relationship with Leeds on the altar of national pride was a surprise, given Viduka’s personal situation. He recently spent three weeks in Australia while his father lay in a coma. Leeds granted the player indefinite leave at a vital time for the club and Viduka said that he wanted to repay their support. In such circumstances, it is scarcely surprising that Leeds were unwilling to let him take a 26-hour return trip for a meaningless game.
The hamstring alibi may have smacked of opportunism, but Leeds are not alone in that respect and greater understanding from the ASA might have rendered it unnecessary. Sven-Göran Eriksson, the England head coach, could confidently cast aspersions on Sol Campbell’s habit of missing non-competitive games, but he appreciates the need to build bridges rather than burn them regarding friendlies. Viduka said that he would not quit international football but admitted to being “extremely disappointed” with the ASA.
“Leeds officials requested that I be withdrawn over an injury picked up against Wolves,” he said. “At that time I also had an open and honest dialogue with the ASA expressing my thoughts that this game had come at the wrong time for me due to my recent personal circumstances; a time when I feel I need to be with and available to my family.”
It has often been hard to sympathise with a club that has lurched between the frying pan and the fire with a myopic zeal, but the latest debacle appears an unwarranted burden. “I’d understand it if Mark told them where to stick international football now,” Birch said. “They don’t deserve someone like him.”
Leeds have been here before when, coincidentally, Kewell was the player subjected to the five-day rule. Having missed an international against Brazil in 1999, Kewell was prevented from playing in a Premiership match against Bradford City.The ASA said that it accepted the difficulties involved in travelling and that it planned to establish a European base, but Frank Lowry, the chairman, was in bullish mood. “We are not punishing Viduka but we are making a statement to the world,” he said.
An ASA statement, issued after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in Caracas, said that the association empathised with Viduka’s personal situation, but noted that he had played twice since returning to Leeds. “Furthermore, the ASA is not satisfied that Mark has sustained an injury which would have prevented him taking the field in Caracas,” it read.
For Birch, being caught in “friendly fire” is the latest plot twist at a club that just cannot contrive a happy ending. Tomorrow, at the home of their most bitter rivals, the depression is likely to deepen.