"We can't let anybody thumb their noses at us saying, 'We're going to do what we want to do but I want to stay,'" he said.

The tipping point is believed to have come on Saturday night, when Gold Coast took to the field against Melbourne Victory with the slogan "Freedom of Speech" on their shirts, replacing the club's usual sponsor, Hyatt Regency - a company embroiled in a legal dispute with Palmer.

That decision saw the club issued with a breach of the A-League's club participation agreement for not having the shirt sanctioned by the FFA before kick-off.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer has responded to the axing of his A-League club Gold Coast United by creating a football body called Football Australia, which he says will hold Football Federation Australia to account.

Palmer said the slogan of the new organisation is "We kick harder".Palmer also announced he would be seeking a court injunction on Friday to allow his Gold Coast team to play its last four matches of the season under its current structure.And, in a wide-ranging and sometime bizarre press conference, he claimed FFA chairman Frank Lowy had approached him about winding up Gold Coast United and making a $5 million investment to set up a team in western Sydney.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/we-kick-harder--clive-palmer-sets-up-rebel-football-organisation-20120301-1u5dn.html#ixzz1nr2PbWF6

Mr Palmer will be announced today as one of seven Australians on the trust's list, joining luminaries from the arts, sciences and politics at the event, which is sponsored by Woman's Day.

But Mr Palmer's selection has triggered infighting between branches of the trust, the national head of the trust blaming the NSW branch for the decision.

The list also includes Olivia Newton-John.

A source has revealed questions were raised about the billionaire's inclusion on the list, even before he became involved in public slanging matches last week - first with Football Federation Australia and its billionaire chairman, Frank Lowy, then with the federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, who accused Mr Palmer and others of using their wealth to ''poison'' the political and economic debate.

Now it seems the National Trust is backing away from its own ''treasure''.

''This is not nationally endorsed at all, this is a NSW initiative,'' said Graeme Blackman, the chairman of the Australian Council of National Trusts, speaking from Singapore yesterday after learning of Mr Palmer's inclusion.

''I am telling you, as the chairman, it is not auspiced by the National Trust nationally.''

Palmer was dealt with summarily because he contravened the club participation agreement, yet the FFA's breach of their CBA with the A-League players - by attempting, and failing, to deal directly with Gold Coast's players - was just as flagrant. Rules are only rules, after all, when it suits.

The clubs are screaming privately about lack of accountability, transparency and governance even while making supportive public statements in an attempt to bring the public spats to a close. Well done to them - they did what they thought was necessary in the circumstances. But the issues remain.

The Government has dismissed mining magnate Clive Palmer's threat to challenge the carbon pricing scheme in the High Court as an exercise in "self-interest".

Mr Palmer told the ABC's 7.30 program last night his companies are preparing legal action based on advice the carbon tax legislation is unconstitutional.

But Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Government has advice to the contrary and has accused Mr Palmer of using his wealth to "exert undue influence on our political system".

"Mr Palmer has been ... dressing up his arguments as national interest arguments when they're just self-interest arguments from Mr Palmer," Mr Swan told ABC Local Radio in Melbourne.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says the carbon price legislation is on "very firm ground" constitutionally.

"Clive Palmer lists one of his hobbies as litigation and he seems to launch plenty of legal cases or threatened to, so I see it in that category," he told ABC News 24.

"It's not really a serious proposition. Frankly Clive Palmer would be better spending the wealth he's generated out of the minerals boom on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions in of his operations than spending it on high-priced lawyers."

The Egyptian Football Association has suspended one of the country's leading teams over match violence that left at least 74 people dead in February.

Port Said club al-Masry was banned from competitions until the end of 2013 over the clashes at its stadium during a game with Cairo's team al-Ahly.

The ban triggered clashes between al-Masry fans and soldiers, reports say.

Al-Ahly was ordered to play four games behind closed doors. The club's coach and captain were suspended and fined.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17496555

Here in Orstralya, we're a bit more sofistikated... We only dismiss a club at the first (or say second) criticism of the governing sporting body... No need for deaths on the field.... Fines for "disobedience" are much bigger too — enough to make a billionaire weep... And remember, referees are gods...