A former Croatia Deakin life member will fight his expulsion from the club where he played for 28 years, coached for 10 and where his father was a foundation member.
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Croatia Deakin, who play as Canberra FC in the Capital Football premier league, expelled Stan Dukic for publishing a series of "false allegations" on social media and acting "in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the club".
Dukic has been part of a band of club members who have been upset with how the club has been run and in particular the fact the club failed to benefit from a $32 million redevelopment of Deakin Stadium.
A deal first brokered under the Carnell Government in 1998 saw the club's original grounds in Deakin redeveloped to the current stadium, a public park and 24 units were built.
While Dukic was upset about being expelled, he was also determined to fight it and has already spoken to a lawyer.
Croatia Deakin's constitution states there's no grounds to appeal "except as provided by the law".
"I'm pretty upset, but at the end of the day I don't think the procedure they went through is correct," Dukic said.
"I've already gone to see a solicitor and we'll see what will happen afterwards.
"But I'm definitely going to fight it.
"My father was a foundation member, I was a life member, I played first grade for 28 years, I coached the club for about 10 years in all different grades, I also ran juniors for two years.
"So I've done a lot. I'm also in the Australian Croatian hall of fame.
"I've dedicated most of my life to that club really."
The committee decided to expel him. It's as simple as that.
- Croatia Deakin president Ivan Bulum
Croatia Deakin president Ivan Bulum said they'd lost patience with Dukic's behaviour and had repeatedly asked him to stop, which was why they decided to expel him.
Dukic was unable to attend the initial discipline meeting due to illness so the club rescheduled the meeting to a later date at which Dukic asked for another extension as he'd been given insufficient time to prepare.
The club declined to reschedule again and decided to expel him.
"We sent so many letters to him and we tried to tell him to not do silly things against the club, and he just continued doing them for the last two years," Bulum said.
"The committee decided to expel him. It's as simple as that ... he's done a lot of damage to the club."
David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
