Farrelly to take legal action against Cork
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Gareth Farrelly, who had his contract terminated by Cork City last August, during their struggle with examinership, has spoken of his plans to take the club to the High Court.
“They stopped paying me on August 12 right until the end of my contract”, Farrelly is quoted as saying in today’s Irish Sun
Farrelly had a benign aneurism in his stomach and it looked like his playing career would finally come to an end.
“I was let go because they classified me as a non-essential playing member, I had been sick.”
However, the former Everton centre midfielder is adamant that he did try and return to action “I wanted to play, I made three attempts to come back and each attempt was declined by the club. The examiner was saying: ‘you’re not being paid so you can’t come back’.
“I had to go through a period of my rehabilitation trying to get better while I was getting letters sent to my house from the examiner, who believed his duty was to sack me. When they went back to the High Court to come out of examinership, the examiner appeared to state that my case should be held and heard under the terms of the FAI, which resorted back to the licensing issue.
“Within the High Court, I was classified as a contingent creditor and that, I believe, should be looked upon and covered under the rules of the FAI. But the FAI have not acted on that.
The 33-year-old then went on to lambaste the FAI for their part in awarding the Leesiders with a Premier Division for the coming season.
“I had a six-month window. I had to be very, very careful and knowing the FAI as I do, even going back to the FIFA Two case and the three-club rule, I knew how the FAI operate.
“From where I sit now, how can Cork be given a licence? I felt I couldn’t trust the FAI to get it right. And that’s why I had to look at possibly taking legal action.”
Farrelly, who was capped for Ireland on 6 occasions continued by saying :“I won’t play here again or manage here again. There are good people there but they get drowned out, become disillusioned and are lost to the league.
“I don’t think I will be seen as being lost to the league as I was never one of ‘them’ anyway.
“That is part of the problem. There are people who are looked after — they’re all old pals, the pals are the wrong people to be in there. They’re stopping the game here getting better.” The FAI have now responded to the Dubliner’s claim by releasing a statement which read:
“Gareth Farrelly’s claim that he could not trust the FAI to resolve the issue of his unpaid wages is unfounded. All players who were due outstanding monies by Cork City FC and followed the club licensing process have received payment in full accordance with the agreements reached between the players, the PFAI and the club. This outcome was achieved following insistence by the FAI club licensing department that Cork City FC deal with these matters.
“Gareth Farrelly’s decision to take his dispute over the payment of wages by Cork City FC last season to a national legislative body precluded the Independent Club Licensing Committee from including his case in their decision to award a license to Cork City FC. (FIN 1.04, FAI Club licensing manual).
“Furthermore, Gareth Farrelly’s claims that the FAI could not have been trusted to represent his interests in a separate case involving the FIFA 3 club rule are equally misplaced. The FAI represented the cases of 8 players who were unable to play as a consequence of this rule to FIFA and was successful in all 8 cases. Gareth Farrelly was represented by his club’s solicitors and this case was unsuccessful.”
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“They stopped paying me on August 12 right until the end of my contract”, Farrelly is quoted as saying in today’s Irish Sun
Farrelly had a benign aneurism in his stomach and it looked like his playing career would finally come to an end.
“I was let go because they classified me as a non-essential playing member, I had been sick.”
However, the former Everton centre midfielder is adamant that he did try and return to action “I wanted to play, I made three attempts to come back and each attempt was declined by the club. The examiner was saying: ‘you’re not being paid so you can’t come back’.
“I had to go through a period of my rehabilitation trying to get better while I was getting letters sent to my house from the examiner, who believed his duty was to sack me. When they went back to the High Court to come out of examinership, the examiner appeared to state that my case should be held and heard under the terms of the FAI, which resorted back to the licensing issue.
“Within the High Court, I was classified as a contingent creditor and that, I believe, should be looked upon and covered under the rules of the FAI. But the FAI have not acted on that.
The 33-year-old then went on to lambaste the FAI for their part in awarding the Leesiders with a Premier Division for the coming season.
“I had a six-month window. I had to be very, very careful and knowing the FAI as I do, even going back to the FIFA Two case and the three-club rule, I knew how the FAI operate.
“From where I sit now, how can Cork be given a licence? I felt I couldn’t trust the FAI to get it right. And that’s why I had to look at possibly taking legal action.”
Farrelly, who was capped for Ireland on 6 occasions continued by saying :“I won’t play here again or manage here again. There are good people there but they get drowned out, become disillusioned and are lost to the league.
“I don’t think I will be seen as being lost to the league as I was never one of ‘them’ anyway.
“That is part of the problem. There are people who are looked after — they’re all old pals, the pals are the wrong people to be in there. They’re stopping the game here getting better.” The FAI have now responded to the Dubliner’s claim by releasing a statement which read:
“Gareth Farrelly’s claim that he could not trust the FAI to resolve the issue of his unpaid wages is unfounded. All players who were due outstanding monies by Cork City FC and followed the club licensing process have received payment in full accordance with the agreements reached between the players, the PFAI and the club. This outcome was achieved following insistence by the FAI club licensing department that Cork City FC deal with these matters.
“Gareth Farrelly’s decision to take his dispute over the payment of wages by Cork City FC last season to a national legislative body precluded the Independent Club Licensing Committee from including his case in their decision to award a license to Cork City FC. (FIN 1.04, FAI Club licensing manual).
“Furthermore, Gareth Farrelly’s claims that the FAI could not have been trusted to represent his interests in a separate case involving the FIFA 3 club rule are equally misplaced. The FAI represented the cases of 8 players who were unable to play as a consequence of this rule to FIFA and was successful in all 8 cases. Gareth Farrelly was represented by his club’s solicitors and this case was unsuccessful.”
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About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile