Grays pay up to Sestanovich

11:45am Tuesday 27th May 2008

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GRAYS Athletic have been forced to pay almost £14,000 to convict footballer Ashley Sestanovich after losing their second appeal against an FA ruling.

The Blue Square Premier league club sacked the player after his arrest following the murder of a man in a robbery that went wrong.

Sestanovich was later jailed for his part in the planning of the raid, but he claimed the money he said Grays owed him between his arrest and the trial.

The Football Association backed his case and order Grays to pay up, threatening to suspend them from football if they did not.

Following a second hearing between the FA and Grays, the association has again demanded the club pay the money or face the same punishment.

Grays chairman and manager Mike Woodward was disappointed with the FA's decision and could not see the justification for it.

But he said the money would be paid to the FA and the club would "draw a line under this bitter experience".