Tinkler backs Sage's quest to quash Perth's finals ban

Embattled Perth Glory boss Tony Sage has received the support of Newcastle Jets owner Nathan Tinkler in his fight to have the club’s A-League finals ban overturned.

Newcastle Jets chief Nathan Tinkler (right) would like to see Perth Glory owner Tony Sage win an appeal to have his club reinstated to the A-League finals (Getty Images) Source: Getty Images Asia Pacific

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With Sage seeking an injunction from the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Monday in response to Glory being fined $269,000 and relegated to seventh spot on the table after being found guilty of salary cap breaches, Tinkler questioned the timing of Football Federation Australia's (FFA) penalty, insisting the matter should have been dealt with during the off-season.

"I feel Perth Glory have been harshly treated and I would like to have seen any penalty handed out at a later date, not on the eve of the finals," Tinkler, who like Sage has a turbulent history in his dealings with the peak body, said.

"I feel for Tony Sage and Perth Glory ... I am not close to the details but I am not sure if the penalty fits the crime.

"It's certainly much more than anything imposed by the FFA previously (Sydney FC was stripped of three points and fined $129,000 in 2006 for cap breaches).

"I just don't think the timing is right. A lot of hard work has gone in from the coaching and playing staff at Glory this season.

"Tony Sage has done a tremendous job in turning the club around from last year when he changed coaches (with Alistair Edwards sacked).

"Looking at it now, the season looks like being wasted. My heart really goes out to the Glory club ... its players, coaches, fans, everybody."

Should Sage's injunction bid fail, Glory – sitting joint top on 44 points behind Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC on goal difference pending its demotion - will follow the appeals process through FFA in the hope of having the severity of its punishment reduced.

Tinkler, whose A-League licence has been under threat from FFA this season over the scheduling of debt payments, said there were some 'blurred lines' in relation to the $2.55 million salary cap.

"There is the figure of $2.55 million per season, but in any given month during the season you could be over based on who you bring in, who you let go and that sort of stuff," he said.

"Effectively, the salary cap runs season to season and there are some blurred lines there.

"At the end of the season, you have to be at $2.55 million and you can't be over that. How the call can be made right now, rather than at the end of the season, I am not so sure.

"I am not close to the FFA's thinking on the issue but I do know that Gory has been one of the best teams all year and you would have wanted to see them in the finals, not sitting on the sidelines.

"But there is going to be an appeals process, and who knows what will happen there."

Tinkler also queried FFA's methodology in opting to relegate Glory to seventh place but no lower.

"If they wanted to treat Perth so harshly, why then only drop them to seventh and not last?

"It seems not to be okay to cheat on the top six teams but it is okay to cheat on the bottom three teams. I don't understand the fairness in that.

"Glory have beaten us twice in the A-League and knocked us out of the FFA Cup and I feel we are getting treated differently (from the top six clubs).

"If FFA feels so strongly about what Glory have done, well where's our six points?

"Placing them in seventh has disadvantaged the Jets, the Wanderers and the Mariners."