Floriana chief Riccardo Gaucci is braced for a legal wrangle with his predecessor, Steve Vaughan Jr.

Floriana FC have filed a lawsuit against their former president Stephen Vaughan Jr and his father Stephen Vaughan Sr over unpaid monies.

Vaughan Jr was at the helm of Floriana between August 2012 and early 2014 when he was succeeded by current incumbent, Italian Riccardo Gaucci.

In the garnishee order, which was presented in the First Hall of Civil Court by Matthew Paris, himself a former club committee member, Floriana FC claim that the Vaughans owe the club around €70,000.

Floriana noted that, on August 13, 2012, the Vaughans signed a contract with the Premier League club by way of which they agreed to pay the wages, accommodation and other expenses related to the foreign players and coaches.

According to Floriana, a number of foreign players were engaged with the club during Vaughan Jr’s tenure as president as agreed and outlined in the accord between the two parties. This was done with the approval of the investors who also made the contacts to recruit these players.

Floriana are contending that the Vaughans failed to pay the wages of a number of foreign players and other related costs, thus breaching the agreement they had signed with the club in August 2012.

Faced with this situation, Floriana were compelled to settle these payments which amount to €70,000. The sum includes payments to players, coaches and clubs.

Floriana are claiming that, although the Vaughans were asked to settle their dues, they failed to honour the contract and this left the club with no option but to file a garnishee order against the former president and his father.

This is not the first time in recent years that Floriana find themselves at the centre of a legal wrangle with a former club president.

The Vaughans have also taken legal action against Floriana on the grounds that they are owed a significant sum of money by the club.

After severing their ties with Floriana, the Vaughans gave a sponsorship to Hibernians, the current BOV Premier League leaders, last summer.

In 2012, Johann Said, who spearheaded the Greens between 2009 and 2011, obtained a garnishee order against the club. In February, Floriana’s request to revoke the garnishee order issued by Said was turned down by the Civil Court.

Hefty punishment

Floriana are to appeal the six-match ban handed out to Amadou Samb.

The Senegalese forward has been sanctioned for elbowing Valletta left-back Ian Azzopardi during Floriana’s 1-0 derby defeat last weekend.

Azzopardi suffered a broken nose.

The incident was not seen by the match officials but the Malta FA exercised its right to take retrospective action in relation to serious offences that were not dealt with by the referee.