A German football player who refused to have an existing two-year contract reduced to one year under instructions from his team owner has been awarded $340,000 in damages after his Australian A-League contract was terminated.
On Friday, an arbitrator ruled that Gold Coast United must pay former player Peter Perchtold more than $340,000 in compensation after he was sacked for refusing to have his two-year A-League contract shortened by a season.
The 27-year-old German midfielder played with the club last season but did not return to start the 2011-12 campaign after refusing to accept the club's new ''one-year contract policy'' despite signing a $400,000, two-year deal in January.
Perchtold has since returned to Germany to play for fourth division club Mainz.
Arbitrator Shaun McCarthy said Friday that the Gold Coast side ''plainly reneged on the agreement'' signed by Perchtold and that ''the player was blameless.''
''In my opinion the conduct of the club was high-handed to say the least,'' said McCarthy.
In testimony during the hearing, it was revealed that Perchtold received an email from Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg in April informing him that owner and billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer had decided he did not want to commit to players for more than one year, with ''no exceptions.''
Bleiberg advised Perchtold to accept a new one-year deal and play this season in order to earn a new contract the following year, but after the player refused, the club decided not to honor his contract.
The arbitrator praised Bleiberg's conduct.
''Mr. Bleiberg acted honorably in doing his best to facilitate a practical compromise in the very difficult circumstances in which he had been placed,'' McCarthy said.
Brendan Schwab, chief executive of Professional Footballers Australia, said the decision was ''an important win for players in Australia.''
''It demonstrates that an employment contract in Australia must be honored by the club, and that the obligations which exist on a club, once the contract is freely entered into, must be complied with,'' Schwab said.
The decision over Perchtold's case came a day after a government report said A-League football players were overpaid.
The Smith Review of Australian football said the 10-team A-League ''must live and grow within its means'' and recommended reducing the $32 million spent annually on player salaries.
The report said players are paid about 40 percent of income generated by the A-League, compared to approximately 20 percent paid in the Australian (Rules) Football League, the National Rugby League and Super Rugby.
Football, or soccer as it is often referred to in Australia, traditionally attracts smaller crowds than its three oval-ball rivals.
The report warned that unless salaries were reduced, and if A-League revenue did not increase significantly, the competition would ''struggle to move to a position of sustainability or profitability for the foreseeable future.''
