THE “jersey-gate” scandal that rocked Brisbane Roar is set to again rear its ugly head, with club legend Craig Moore to take action against the club.

Departing Roar football director Moore was last month put on “gardening leave” by the club after numbers farcically peeled off Brisbane jerseys in the club’s embarrassing 3-2 AFC Champions League playoff loss to Filipino outfit Ceres-Negros.

Moore had resigned a week earlier but was due to serve a notice period until the middle of next month.

However, Roar vice chairman Chris Fong publicly blamed the former Brisbane captain for the jersey fiasco and banished him.

“We have a football director and the buck stops with him,” Fong told The World Game website in announcing Moore’s “gardening leave” the day after the loss.

“It was a systemic failure of management in the football department.”

media_camera Craig Moore is taking action against Brisbane Roar.

Tim Fuller, the lawyer representing Moore, sought a public apology from the Roar, saying that statements attributed to Fong carried “defamatory imputations” to the Socceroos legend.

It’s understood the Roar told Fuller that Fong had been “misquoted”, but refused to declare that via an apology that failed to arrive by the deadline of Wednesday at 5pm.

“If Fong was misrepresented, the club allowed an employee to be subjected to defamatory publications whilst they stood silent,” Fuller said.

As a result, Fuller will on Friday file an arbitration application on behalf of Moore with Football Federation Australia, claiming the Roar and Fong are in breach of several FFA regulations.

media_camera The numbers of Brisbane Roar defender Ivan Franjic’s shirt are seen peeling off in the Asian Champions League playoff match against Ceres-Negros.

Fuller said his client was also considering legal options under the Fair Work Act as to how Moore was “unfairly treated as an employee”.

“The club as employer put Craig on ‘gardening leave’,” he said.

“No explanation has ever been offered for this.”

When contacted by The Courier-Mail on Thursday night, the Roar refused to comment on the matter.

The FFA arbitration hearing between the parties is set take place in the next three weeks in keeping with FFA regulations.

Moore was appointed as Roar football director in June 2015 after being approached by Brisbane coach John Aloisi, who had joined the club only weeks earlier.