Andrew Jarman ‘gutted’ By Gaza Salary Cap Breaches And $380,000 Fine

Andrew Jarman, a media celebrity and South African football star, has expressed his 'gutted' feelings about the possible dissolution of the team he grew up supporting due to a record fine for wage ceiling breaches.

Andrew Jarman, a media personality and South African football hero, has expressed his sadness for the players and volunteers of his former team, which is in danger of folding due to record penalties for wage limit violations.

This week, Gaza, an Adelaide Footy League side in Division Four, was fined $380,000 for multiple pay cap infractions dating back to 2018.

The club's "serious breaches of the SANFL Community Football Player Payments Regulations... during the 2018 to 2022 seasons, including sign-on payments and match payments, significantly exceeded the maximum (amount) allowable," according to a statement released by the league.

The team will start the upcoming season 12 points behind in the Premiership standings and will also lose the player points it might utilise to bring in new players under the Approved Player Points System.

Gaza's existence as a community club is in jeopardy due to the six-figure punishment, the largest in the history of South African sports.

Jarman, who played for the Eagles during his junior career alongside his brother Darren and later coached the team from 2015 to 2019, was taken aback by the infractions and subsequent suspension.

Especially for many of our former players and dedicated volunteers, I feel absolutely devastated," Jarman added.

This is the most difficult time in our 120-year history, and we are startled by this choice.

Our Gaza family must find a way to persevere through this difficult time, and my thoughts are with them.

Suburban teams can't pay their players more than $2500 a week combined, per the SANFL's most recent set of Community Football Rules and Regulations.

In addition, clubs are restricted from paying players more than $500 per game and coaches less than $20,000 per year.

There is a ban on any sort of up-front or joining fee.

Adelaide Footy League president John Kernahan has stated that the league is rooting for a result that will allow the team to remain operational.

The Adelaide Football League has little control over penalties, given the rules outlined in the SANFL bylaws are widely known; however, the league does back the rules, as stated by Kernahan.

Because we are all bound by the SANFL's rules and regulations, the fine is negligible and serves solely as a reflection of the infraction.

We also believe that the Gaza Football Club should be given every opportunity to refute the claims made against it.

No club, especially not one of our own, deserves to be in the situation in which Gaza currently finds itself. We really, really, really hope the Gaza Football Club will help out with the probe so that the club's viability isn't threatened.

"A club, like any community, provides a vital social and meeting space for its members. The breakdown of any secret society rips at the very foundation of our civilisation.

Don Rosella, the president of the club, has been banned from working for any SANFL team for a decade.

The club will be appealing the ruling, he said.

If necessary, we will take legal action by filing an appeal of the ruling.

The fine would "effectively wipe out" Gaza from the local football universe, according to the club's volunteer members.

From 2001 to 2014, Gaza dominated Division One, appearing in four Grand Finals and winning two Premierships (in 2003 and 2011).

The team has spent the last two seasons playing in Division Four after being demoted both to Division Three and Division Four.