Dharmabum
Well-Known Member
- Aug 16, 2003
- 8,274
- 12,242
"Birds of same feather..." comes to my mind
http://www.theage.com.au/national/parents-cry-foul-as-Ar5ena1-clinic-misfires-20080609-2nzx.html
Parents cry foul as Ar5ena1 clinic misfires
JO WHITE is a soccer mum from Mount Macedon. Her nine-year-old son, Callum, loves the game and especially loves Ar5ena1, the glamour Premier League club from London. So when the family heard on the radio that Ar5ena1 was opening a kids' coaching school in Melbourne, they quickly signed up. That was in December. The Whites gave their son the $300 enrolment fee for the 10 weekly sessions — to be held in Thornbury from February — for Christmas. They paid the head of the course, Jim Tsolakis, in cash, no receipts.
"I remember he was sitting on the ground in the park taking the money," Mrs White said. "He didn't appear interested in anything much apart from that."
The parents and their kids didn't know it yet, but soon the clinics would dissolve and Mr Tsolakis would disappear with the money. A similar scenario had already played out in South Australia, where Socceroo Michael Valkanis was the "face" of the school but was left embarrassed by Mr Tsolakis.
"He never paid me," Valkanis said. "It's as if he just left the country."
The amount of money involved is not huge. But it raises the question: how did a former funeral director from suburban Melbourne with a chequered financial history dupe one of the world's biggest sports clubs into letting him run a franchise?
In 2003, in Sydney, Mr Tsolakis ran into legal difficulties over money he owed to a Greek newspaper when he was running his funeral company. Yet within a few years he approached Ar5ena1 and they accepted his proposal.
Since February, Ar5ena1, Valkanis, the Football Federation of Victoria and parents have been looking for Mr Tsolakis, who lives in Malvern and has an office in Burwood, but with no success.
When contacted by The Age, he said he was refunding the money — a claim denied by parents — but refused to offer proof. "I don't have to answer anything," he said. "This is how it is, and if that's not good enough, what more can I say?"
A spokeswoman for Ar5ena1 in London said the club was "extremely disappointed" but also "extremely thorough" when setting up new franchises such as that with Mr Tsolakis and his company, Sports Concepts Australia.
Ar5ena1 has 16 such franchises around the world. It earns a royalty from them but mainly uses them as a marketing exercise.
"The club had no reason to believe that an association with Sports Concepts Australia would not continue to run to the high standards (we) saw upon entering into an association with the soccer school in 2007," the spokeswoman said.
In Melbourne, it was good while it lasted. Mr Tsolakis had coaches working for him who, according to parent Jo White, ran "brilliant" clinics, using Ar5ena1's training methods, for the under nines, 10s and 12s. There were 55 children enrolled. "They loved it," she said. "The coaching was fabulous."
Mr Tsolakis was rarely present, however, and there were constant postponements and rescheduling, communicated by SMS. But because it was Ar5ena1, parents thought it would be all right. The same happened in Adelaide, where 50 kids completed one course but the promised second never happened.
Mr Tsolakis now claims that Ar5ena1 in fact owes him money, that certain of his coaches reneged on their deals and that the Football Federation of Victoria, which he leased the Thornbury ground from, kept changing the bookings — a claim the federation denies.
His office phone numbers have long been disconnected and late last week his website, featuring Ar5ena1's distinctive "Gunner" crest, was taken down.
Valkanis said he and the school's former head coach, Peter Kyrkylis, were hoping to take over the Ar5ena1 licence and provide free coaching for those enrolled in the ill-fated courses.
"The kids are the ones who suffer in the end," he said. "If someone wants a bad name he can have it, but we don't and neither does Ar5ena1."
Scheduling was erratic, and the clinic soon folded.
Mr Tsolakis says he is refunding the money, but parents deny this and say they have been unable to track him down.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/parents-cry-foul-as-Ar5ena1-clinic-misfires-20080609-2nzx.html
Parents cry foul as Ar5ena1 clinic misfires
JO WHITE is a soccer mum from Mount Macedon. Her nine-year-old son, Callum, loves the game and especially loves Ar5ena1, the glamour Premier League club from London. So when the family heard on the radio that Ar5ena1 was opening a kids' coaching school in Melbourne, they quickly signed up. That was in December. The Whites gave their son the $300 enrolment fee for the 10 weekly sessions — to be held in Thornbury from February — for Christmas. They paid the head of the course, Jim Tsolakis, in cash, no receipts.
"I remember he was sitting on the ground in the park taking the money," Mrs White said. "He didn't appear interested in anything much apart from that."
The parents and their kids didn't know it yet, but soon the clinics would dissolve and Mr Tsolakis would disappear with the money. A similar scenario had already played out in South Australia, where Socceroo Michael Valkanis was the "face" of the school but was left embarrassed by Mr Tsolakis.
"He never paid me," Valkanis said. "It's as if he just left the country."
The amount of money involved is not huge. But it raises the question: how did a former funeral director from suburban Melbourne with a chequered financial history dupe one of the world's biggest sports clubs into letting him run a franchise?
In 2003, in Sydney, Mr Tsolakis ran into legal difficulties over money he owed to a Greek newspaper when he was running his funeral company. Yet within a few years he approached Ar5ena1 and they accepted his proposal.
Since February, Ar5ena1, Valkanis, the Football Federation of Victoria and parents have been looking for Mr Tsolakis, who lives in Malvern and has an office in Burwood, but with no success.
When contacted by The Age, he said he was refunding the money — a claim denied by parents — but refused to offer proof. "I don't have to answer anything," he said. "This is how it is, and if that's not good enough, what more can I say?"
A spokeswoman for Ar5ena1 in London said the club was "extremely disappointed" but also "extremely thorough" when setting up new franchises such as that with Mr Tsolakis and his company, Sports Concepts Australia.
Ar5ena1 has 16 such franchises around the world. It earns a royalty from them but mainly uses them as a marketing exercise.
"The club had no reason to believe that an association with Sports Concepts Australia would not continue to run to the high standards (we) saw upon entering into an association with the soccer school in 2007," the spokeswoman said.
In Melbourne, it was good while it lasted. Mr Tsolakis had coaches working for him who, according to parent Jo White, ran "brilliant" clinics, using Ar5ena1's training methods, for the under nines, 10s and 12s. There were 55 children enrolled. "They loved it," she said. "The coaching was fabulous."
Mr Tsolakis was rarely present, however, and there were constant postponements and rescheduling, communicated by SMS. But because it was Ar5ena1, parents thought it would be all right. The same happened in Adelaide, where 50 kids completed one course but the promised second never happened.
Mr Tsolakis now claims that Ar5ena1 in fact owes him money, that certain of his coaches reneged on their deals and that the Football Federation of Victoria, which he leased the Thornbury ground from, kept changing the bookings — a claim the federation denies.
His office phone numbers have long been disconnected and late last week his website, featuring Ar5ena1's distinctive "Gunner" crest, was taken down.
Valkanis said he and the school's former head coach, Peter Kyrkylis, were hoping to take over the Ar5ena1 licence and provide free coaching for those enrolled in the ill-fated courses.
"The kids are the ones who suffer in the end," he said. "If someone wants a bad name he can have it, but we don't and neither does Ar5ena1."
Scheduling was erratic, and the clinic soon folded.
Mr Tsolakis says he is refunding the money, but parents deny this and say they have been unable to track him down.
