By ADEM SARICAOGLU
SUNSHINE George Cross may back out of its National Premier League bid as a result of its forced relegation into State League Two.
On Sunday Georgies president Darren Farrugia revealed the club was also planning to lodge an appeal this week after Football Federation Victoria booted the State League One mainstay out of Victoria’s second tier competition on melee and misconduct charges.
A club-backed consortium remained in contention to enter the FFV’s proposed NPLV initiative, but Farrugia told Star that may no longer be the case after last week’s events.
“We’re seriously looking at it and the club will be making a decision tomorrow night (Monday) regarding it,” Farrugia said.
“We’re seriously thinking of pulling out tomorrow night – we’ve got a board meeting and we’ll be making our decision tomorrow night.”
Last week’s FFV tribunal hearing found Sunshine George Cross guilty on two charges after a heated battle against Heidelberg United in mid-August.
Despite a not guilty plea the club was found to have engaged in a melee and was thus relegated to State League Two and handed a $2500 fine.
Coach Tony Ciantar was also found guilty of misconduct and received a reprimand.
Both incidents were considered “second offences” after the Georgies were fined $1500 in July for “failing to control its club associate(s)”.
In a similar incident against St Albans earlier that month, Ciantar was suspended until the beginning of September, but his failure to adhere to a four-week ban stemming from a previous incident in June against Altona Magic counted against the Georgies at last week’s hearing.
Farrugia said his club’s grounds for appeal are based on the harshness of the penalty, believing the FFV’s punishment did not fit the crime and claiming the August melee only involved “five or six players” engaging in “a bit of push and shove”.
On Sunday the FFV said any potential appeal will be heard in coming weeks.
