Football Federation Australia (FFA) has determined today the penalties levied against Wellington Phoenix players, Timothy Payne and Oliver Sail, relating to an incident that occurred in March this year when the Phoenix squad was based at a quarantine facility in New South Wales.
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Payne and Sail will both serve a suspension of four matches, starting from the next match the Phoenix plays in the 2019/20 Hyundai A-League season. In addition, both players have also been fined by both the FFA and the club for their actions during this incident.
Wellington Phoenix General Manager, David Dome, says that while he is disappointed with the actions of the players, the club recognises the severity of their actions and the profound regret both players have displayed following the incident.
“Both Payne and Sail understand the gravity of their actions; they know this has impacted the rest of the team and the reputation of the club – to their credit they’ve worked hard since the incident to repair some of the damage they’ve caused.”
Wellington Phoenix Coach Ufuk Talay says that with the penalties decided, the club can now move forward with resuming the 2019/20 Hyundai A-League season without this as a distraction.
“What’s happened has happened and both players are disappointed by their actions.
“We can now put this behind us and focus on our upcoming matches – I am confident going forward that both Tim and Oli will be exemplary members of our squad and contribute to our team’s success once their suspensions have finished.”
