The Corporate Future of Union

[The InnFORCEr]

This story is only going to get bigger. I suspect there may be major casualties in this Firepower / Force / O'Meara saga.

I hope the only casualty will be Mr Keenans pay packet!!

[travelling_gerry]

10% of BIG TIME

[Burgs]

Force and the $30,000 sweetener

Gerard Ryle and Jacquelin Magnay
Thursday, May 31, 2007

THE Western Force drew up a formal offer to Waratahs forward Al Kanaar which involved third-party payments, according to a document obtained by the Herald.

A signed letter from Force chief executive officer Peter O'Meara outlined a $258,000 package including cash, travel, a car allowance and a third-party arrangement with a sponsor which was underwritten by the club.

In a potential breach of Australian Rugby Union player contract protocols, Kanaar was to be paid $30,000 a year to become an "environmental advisor" for one of four companies.

One of the companies was a Force sponsor, the controversial (controversial to who, someone who has had legal action from them ) Perth-based fuel technology company Firepower. The other three are stock market-listed entities - Woodside Petroleum, BHP and Rio Tinto.

The offer included an annual base salary of $110,000, match payments of $52,000, air fares valued at $16,000 and a motor vehicle, plus other allowances.

The letter was addressed to Kanaar's manager, Greg Keenan, and asked for a response within five days.

Under the ARU protocols, no state union is to be involved in facilitating, procuring or arranging third-party deals as an inducement to sign any player without ARU approval.

The ARU initiated an inquiry last May into the alleged attempt to poach Kanaar but the status of the offer has never been resolved. Officials from both the ARU and the Western Force keep changing their story about what happened.

The Herald was told that at the inquiry the ARU had a copy of the letter and O'Meara told it it had not been passed on to any other party and, therefore, was not a formal offer. The inquiry fined the club $110,000, later partly suspended. After the Herald questioned them about third-party deals and players not being paid on time, both Rugby WA chairman Geoff Stooke and O'Meara said no offers to underwrite deals had been made by the club.

However, yesterday Stooke confirmed the letter of offer had been faxed to Kanaar's manager on April 21, 2006.

"That [offer] was never progressed because the ARU deemed we couldn't do it," he said.

"I am aware of the letter because I saw it the other day. I am aware of the letter and that letter also went to the ARU. And they said, 'Forget it boys, you can't do it'."

When the Herald asked Stooke whether the letter went to both Keenan and the ARU, he replied: "Correct, yes."

He said attached to the fax to Keenan was a note that stated: "Of course this can't be tabled and all negotiations are to be done through the ARU."

At the inquiry, the ARU accepted O'Meara's word that he had not tabled the offer. The ARU did not call either Kanaar or Keenan to give evidence to the inquiry to ask whether or not the letter of offer had been relayed to them.

The ARU inquiry led to a $110,000 fine, but the ARU said this was because Kanaar was spotted in Perth talking to the club.

The very existence of the letter - and the claims by the Force officials about whether their actions amounted to an offer throws a new light on repeated public statements made by the Force over the past year. For instance, O'Meara was quoted in the media on April 24 last year that "at no stage" did he make a commercial offer to Kanaar.

When O'Meara was first asked by the Herald last Friday whether the Force had ever offered to underwrite any arrangement with a sponsor, he responded: "No. Absolutely not."

When the Herald first raised the issue of third-party arrangements with Stooke last Friday, he said: "The ARU protocols state that the union may not become involved in the facilitation of third-party contracts.

"The CEO of this organisation has at no time been involved in facilitating third-party arrangements. The reality is he can't be seen to be eliciting, or putting deals to players via their manager and that has not occurred.

"And we have quite deliberately ensured that there has been distance between our organisation and any potential third party."

In recent days, O'Meara, who has been interviewed for vacant the ARU chief executive position, has accused Keenan of initiating action against him "scurrilously".

"You know you did not get it [the letter] from me," Keenan told the Herald. "And if you publish it, it will be more mud thrown at me."

The Western Force's aggressive policy of attracting star players has long drawn suspicion from the ARU and other Super 14 clubs. It has been central to the team's rapid improvement. The club rose from wooden spooners last year to the second-most successful Australian team this season. (On the back of four new players, one of which came from League ???)

Contact the reporter: gryle@smh.com.au

HOW IT ALL UNFOLDED

* April 21, 2006: Letter of offer detailing cash and third-party arrangements for Alex Kanaar drafted. Force say it was sent to ARU for approval.

* April 25, 2006: Waratahs complain Kanaar was flown to Perth when negotiations were nearly complete.

* May 2006: ARU inquiry fines Force $110,000. ARU says Force officials said the letter was never formally offered to Kanaar. "We made no offer, there was no financial discussion," said Force chairman Geoff Stooke.

* June 2006: Force fine partly suspended.

* May 2007: Force official confirms the offer had been faxed to Kanaar's manager on April 21, but with a covering note saying it could not be tabled.

[frontrow]

So the reality is the letter exists, but was never going to be offered...It is a blight on the recruiting techniques, but it is also correct in that at no time was it directly offered to kanaar as part of a deal as it wasn't tabled....Wouldn't the relevant companies have made these offers, not peter Omeara...

Confused, i am...

[travelling_gerry]

Clark Kent and Lois Lane are not going to let this one go

[chook]

Why send an offer when it was not going to be tabled? IS there a purpose in doing that? I'm confused too FR.

[Burgs]

Gives a ballpark of what may be possible I suppose Chook?
Agree with Gerry though that this does seem a bit of a witch hunt.
I guess they have their necks on the block now and have to fight their way out.
Still no recognition in the SMH stories as to the true nature of the ATO involvement and it being across all teams...