PLAYER agent Jason Sourasis has welcomed the AFL Players’ Association investigation into his bitter legal dispute with former business partner Liam Pickering as the management rights to some of the game’s biggest stars hang in the balance.
Pickering was this week ordered by the Supreme Court to pay compensation to Sourasis, the boss of Strategic Management Australia, after he broke ranks in 2014 and took a host of the game's stars with him.
The AFLPA's Agents Accreditation Board oversees the conduct of player managers and has assigned lawyer James Gallagher to conduct an independent investigation into the case.
The investigation puts the management rights to some of the games established and rising stars, including Gary Ablett, Jacob Weitering, Scott Pendlebury and Jack Ziebell, under a cloud.
Ablett and Weitering are managed by Pickering's Precision Sports Entertainment Group, while Pendlebury and Ziebell are two players who chose to remain with Sourasis and Strategic.
The investigation will centre on the Supreme Court findings handed down by Justice Michael Sifris on Tuesday, with Gallagher to then determine if there has been a breach of the player agents’ code of conduct.
Both agents will be given the chance to share their version of events with Gallagher before his findings are presented to the Agent Accreditation Board.
The agents will then be given a further chance to respond to the report and make a submission on any penalty before the board makes a call on whether it will take action.
Gallagher will investigate three separate findings handed down by the court.
Justice Sifris ruled in favour of Sourasis and found that his company had been "impoverished and suffered loss and damage as a result of the conduct of Pickering".
The court then dismissed Pickering's counterclaim that Strategic failed to pay all of a $200,000 sign-on fee he was promised for joining the company.
The judge found in Pickering's favour on a second counterclaim about oppressive conduct.
Specifically, Sourasis was found by the court to have transferred $197,000 out of Strategic Management Australia on an "ad hoc" basis and with no supporting documents.
It is understood Sourasis will consider appealing the oppression finding.
Pickering said there were grounds for the AFLPA to revoke Sourasis's player management licence.
"They (the AFLPA) will be looking at the licence of Sourasis and whether someone who lied under oath and falsified documents to cover withdrawals of funds taken without consent can be a fit and proper person to hold an AFLPA licence," Pickering told SEN.
Sourasis released a personal statement on Saturday in response, detailing a series of text messages Pickering had sent him when the ruling was handed down on Tuesday.
"Without revealing the full extent of Pickering's text messages, Pickering threatened to 'go to town' through his own media 'forum' to discredit and damage my reputation," Sourasis said.
"Thankfully this unfortunate saga is concluding and I look forward to moving on and continuing my endeavours to transform the talent management industry."
There have been calls this week for the AFL to take charge of player agents and use its muscle and influence to police the industry.
