Central Coast Mariners coach Phil Moss has had to publicly apologise for comments he made to a Sydney newspaper regarding the Greek Australian community.
Speaking on his time at Sydney Olympic as a player, Moss lamented that the club didn’t select him for the fact he “wasn’t born in Greece”.
“There was an experience at Sydney Olympic when I was offered a contract and then it was reneged because it was discovered that I wasn’t born in Greece,” Moss said to The Daily Telegraph.
“They were the dark old days of Australian football.”
Sydney Olympic took offence at the comment, and released an official statement saying it has never discriminated against its players or staff.
“The club was disappointed with the suggestion made by Mr Moss in The Daily Telegraph article relating to circumstances in the late 1990s that it had discriminated against a prospective player on the basis of race,” the statement read.
“Sydney Olympic FC has never before discriminated against a group or an individual on the basis of race, and never will. In fact, it has a proud tradition of promoting players and coaches from all around the globe.”
Moss, who is married to a proud Greek Australian woman, publicly apologised for the statement, and took the time to speak to Sydney Olympic management to offer his personal apology.
“At no stage did I intend to offend Sydney Olympic, its supporters, administrators, coaches, players, or volunteers,” Moss said in a statement.
“I have the utmost respect for Sydney Olympic and bear them no ill-will. They are one of the grand clubs of Australian football, and an important part of the game in this country.”
“I have a Greek Australian partner and many friends with Greek heritage, so it was an error of judgement on my part for which I apologise.”