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Carlton's Kouta undecided on AFL future

10/08/2006 08:42:37 PM Comments (0)

Carlton captain Anthony Koutoufides is uncertain whether he will play on in 2007 after the Blues asked the AFL club stalwart to take an enormous pay cut.

The cash-strapped Blues want Koutoufides to accept a reported pay cut of $900,000 next season, and although the Blues skipper tried to remain diplomatic on Thursday, he let slip the mooted reduction was "massive".

The 33-year-old star, understood to be keen on playing on, is in the last season of a lucrative five-year deal and will reportedly earn $1.1 million this season, which is the last year of his largely back-ended contract.

To play on in 2007, Koutoufides will need to sign a deal reportedly worth around $200,000, which would put him on par with many of his young teammates.

His manager believes it is demeaning of Carlton to offer such a huge pay cut to a premiership player of 263 games experience, and Koutoufides said he was yet to decide between playing on and retiring.

"I've got to understand the club's position," he said.

"We've got a lot of young players, I know I'm coming to the end of my career and I've got to accept a massive reduction in my pay, so it's something we've got to sit down and go through."

Koutoufides, who has previously accepted a big pay cut to help the Blues address their dire financial plight, said coach Denis Pagan wanted him to continue playing.

But Koutoufides said he would wait until after the Blues' last four games before announcing his decision.

"I'm still undecided whether I am going to go on or not," he told Fox Footy.

"There's still a lot of things to go through before I make my decision, you've got to look at family, whether you want to play on, whether physically you can do it and whether the club wants me to."

Koutoufides' manager David Allison said his client had taken a pay cut in 2002, while 60-70 per cent of the money being paid to him this season was owed from previous years.

"A lot of people forget Kouta took a substantial pay cut a few years back and everyone talks about his $1 million contract - he's never received $1 million in any season," Allison told Fox Footy.

"If you took away the changes in his contract and the back-ended side of it, he's played this year for a substantial amount less than what people think he did."

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