Soccer-New club for Newcastle after Jets licence revoked

* Jets lose licence over unpaid wages * FFA-owned club in Newcastle to replace them (updates with revoking of licence) SYDNEY, May 20 (Reuters) - Football Federation Australia (FFA) terminated the A-League licence held by the owners of the Newcastle Jets with immediate effect on Wednesday after the club went into voluntary administration. The FFA said the licence would go to a new club in the port city which would be "owned and controlled" by the governing body and compete in the A-League. Nathan Tinkler, who owned the Jets through the Hunter Sports Group (HSG), had earlier placed the club in voluntary administration with debts of A$2.7 million ($2.14 million). The former mining magnate, who has lost a fortune because of a slump in coal prices, failed to pay the wages on time for the third occasion in four months last week and the club released a statement on Monday saying funds were not available. "The termination is based on material breaches of the A-League licence... in relation to non-payment of players and staff, and an ongoing failure to meet standard operational requirements," read an FFA statement. "FFA notes that HSG placed the Newcastle Jets into voluntary administration today, which in itself is an act of insolvency and a breach of the A-League licence conditions." Tinkler had clashed with the FFA on many occasions over his running of the club and predicted that the governing body might step in and scupper an "imminent" deal with Scottish club Dundee United. "We've had an offer in for a couple of weeks from Dundee United," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. "That offer is well in excess of the debts of the club and I've asked the administrator to get that sale done and that will see everyone get paid. Then, I can move on. "The only risk to that is if the FFA decide to act in a morally bankrupt manner and take the licence and that presents a whole bunch of other issues." The Jets finished bottom of the 10-team A-League in the recently concluded season with three wins from 27 matches. FFA chief executive David Gallop said Hunter Sports Group had behaved in a "deplorable" manner towards players and staff by not paying their wages, "Anyone who takes control of a sporting club has an obligation to respect the people and the traditions of that club," he said. "HSG has failed miserably in this regard. Today's action to terminate the licence is the first step to restoring the proud traditions of football in northern New South Wales." ($1 = A$1.2636) (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by John O'Brien)