Bombers, AFL settle Hird pay spat

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<b>UPDATE:</b> <span id="U30584137841H1" style="font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;">ESSENDON will pay James Hird upfront for 2014, in keeping with the AFL's wishes the suspended coach not be paid next year.</span>

Essendon chairman Paul Little said the stalemate between the Bombers and the league had been resolved.

"To settle this impasse, the Essendon Football Club has resolved that it will pay James Hird in advance to cover the 2014 year consistent with Hird's employment contract obligations," Little said in a statement.

"This also meets the implied terms of the Deed of Settlement. The implied terms of the AFL sanction indicate that James Hird cannot be paid for a 12 month period therefore he will not be paid during the calendar period January 1 - December 31, 2014.

"The AFL has accepted the Essendon Football Club's position that James will not be paid in 2014, and equally the AFL have accepted that the Essendon Football Club has the right to make payments to James Hird in the 2013 year as it sees fit."

Earlier, a make-or-break showdown between James Hird and Andrew Demetriou looms after the AFL chief sensationally turned off the tap on millions of dollars in funding for the Bombers.

Hird's lawyer, Julian Burnside QC, warned Demetriou could be challenged in court if the AFL tried to force Essendon to stop paying Hird.

"What would be fascinating is if the AFL in fact force Essendon to stop paying James. If that happened, James will have a very good claim against the AFL for inducing a breach of contract," he told 3AW.

"Then we'll get Demetriou into the witness box and then we'll see what he says."

AFL HITS BOMBERS WHERE IT HURTS

However leaving his Toorak home this morning, Hird said he didn't believe the pay dispute would go to court.

"I don't think so," he said with a laugh.

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Key Essendon figures on Thursday night said the club's board was behind Hird in the escalating pay war.

The club is understood to be eager to state its case before the AFL Commission, amid anger over the league executive's unprecedented move.

"On principle, they (the AFL) are wrong,'' a club insider said.

Mark Thompson (centre) with players at Essendon training today. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

As the dispute reached crisis point, the Hird camp signalled it would fight to protect his right to his $1 million salary while serving his 12-month ban, adamant his agreed sanction was signed off with the AFL, not Essendon.

If the AFL does not agree to drop its funding freeze, the Bombers could take the league to the Supreme Court.

The latest bombshell in footy's supplements saga came after Tania Hird slammed Demetriou's claims that her husband was banned from receiving a salary, accusing the league of having a "total disregard for the truth" and calling on them to stop "threatening'' him and the club.

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Demetriou responded by announcing at 1.22pm on Thursday it was holding back discretionary funding, which could run into millions of dollars, to the club until it explained why it was paying Hird's wage.

READ THE AFL STATEMENT IN FULL

The AFL said it had written to the Bombers telling the club that Hird "could not work for any club in any capacity or receive a salary from any club".

Joe Daniher (left) and Paul Chapman at Essendon training today. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

The statement said: "AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou said AFL General Manager, Legal, Integrity and Compliance, Andrew Dillon had advised the Essendon FC in writing this week the clear intention from the outset of James Hird's 12-month suspension by the AFL was that he could not work for any club in any capacity or receive a salary from any club.

"Mr Demetriou said Mr Dillon was awaiting a formal reply from the club. Until that reply was received, the club has been informed the AFL will withhold an amount from regular AFL discretionary distributions to the Essendon FC each month."

Mr Demetriou, however, did not address Mrs Hird's earlier accusations.

It is understood the amount being withheld is a high percentage of AFL distributions to the club. The AFL's annual distribution to Essendon, in the year ending October 31, was $8.4 million.

James Hird's wife Tania Hird outside their home in Toorak. Source: News Limited

Hird's lawyer, Steven Amendola, hit back within an hour of the AFL statement, saying: "The AFL can write to the Essendon FC as much as it wants to about the agreed settlement. But it was very clear on the night (the August 27 hearing settlement) that Hird would be paid by the Essendon FC during his period of suspension.

Mark Thompson directs Essendon training today. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

"I am happy to elaborate on why it was clear he would be paid if the AFL want to continue to assert he wasn't going to be paid.'' Demetriou warned that the issue could be referred back to the commission next week if the club did not comply with its demands.

In her first public comments since footy's supplements scandal broke in February, Hird's wife, Tania, dismissed Demetriou's claims the coach was banned from receiving a salary.

"Of course he's being paid, that was the deal. We wouldn't have taken a sanction without pay, we would have taken the AFL to the Supreme Court and they knew that, Demetriou knew that," she said.

FURTHER REPORTS

AFL HITS BOMBERS WHERE IT HURTS

READ THE AFL STATEMENT IN FULL

STEVEN DANK LINK TO NRL PEPTIDE SCANDAL

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