Team Owner Says Soccer is “Hopeless Game”

Confirms he’s invested for reasons other than the love of the game

Soccer fans in Australia are crying foul after one team’s owner admitted he didn’t “even like the game.”

“I think it’s a hopeless game,” Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer told Brisbane’s Sunday Mail. “Rugby league’s a much better game.”

Australia’s fifth richest man and a mining magnate, Palmer invested in the founding of the expansion team in 2008. The team enjoyed relative success in their first seasons, but this year has struggled in the standings of the 10-team league, Reuters reported.

Playing in front of the A-League’s smallest audiences, Gold Coast United has also faced turmoil over a new captain appointment.

Ben Buckley, chief executive of Football Federation Australia called Palmer’s comments “offensive to the players, coaches, administrators and volunteers who are the life and soul of Australian football.”
 

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