Mandic also named Scott Chipperfield as the player who is alleged to have told Kewell to F-Off during the World Cup - but challenged Slater to prove the incident took place.

In an explosive interview on SEN Radio, Mandic rounded on Australia's soccer establishment and launched a savage broadside on Slater.

But he reserved his worst venom for Arnold, now head coach of the Central Coast Mariners.

"The source of the story is one Graham Arnold, assistant coach to Australia, that's a fact," said Mandic. "I have no idea why they do these things....You have to ask Graham Arnold.

"To quote Harry after the debacle that was the Asian Cup - and this is a direct quote, and if you repeat this to the FFA, I'm not telling any secrets here - he said the bloke's pure poison.

"At the end of the day he has certain agendas and if you don’t back Graham Arnold as national coach of Australia, which Harry  never did, then you are on the outer.

"But the sad fact is that soccer people love these get square games which is ridiculous."

He added: "When the hierarchy of soccer ask the questions as to why soccer isn’t taken seriously, it’s because of people like Robbie Slater and Michael Cockerill.

"Why should you lie about that when at the end of the day it serves no purpose for whatever reason to get your opinion across?

"Robbie is entitled to have his opinion, they can say Harry should retire, they can say whatever they like, quite frankly.

"But at the end of the day to say that a player told Harry to F off just didn't happen."

"For a player to have said that Harry was of no value to the Australian team... because the player in question, I'll name him, Scott Chipperfield, because the whispering campaign has gone on for a month now and I've known about it. 

"Scott Chipperfield is a good bloke. He basically did not say that. Why Robbie feels that is the way to go you have to ask Robbie. We have to separate opinion from fact.

"At the end of the day have whatever opinions you want and say it's your opinion but do not say things are supposedly fact when there is nothing to it.  

"In terms of players, it was a tight knit group. I think there were some management issues. This has come to the surface now because of the story Graham Arnold  broke.

"A lot of the stories that emanated from the camp emanated from management, not from players. The players were fine.

"The bridges are there between the players - they are solid as a rock. I challenge anyone to find a Socceroo to come out and say Harry should retire.

"Let's have a look at the facts - Harry Kewell has scored 29 goals in 66 matches for Galatasaray, he's just had his contract extended.

"I like dealing with facts - Robbie Slater scored less than one goal in 15 games in Europe. Fact. When he was in Blackburn, he loves telling people he won the Championship.

"But the year they won the Championship, he made 18 appearances and did not score a single goal and they punted him at the end of the season.

"Did Harry ever say Robbie Slater was a no-hoper that basically did stuff all in Europe to try to destroy his reputation? No, he hasn't. And no other player has...but if you are going to go and throw stones..."

Mandic went on to despair of the suicidal way football tears itself apart in Australia through petty politics and personal agendas.

"I have no idea why they do these things," he said. "Soccer is living in a very provincial world and they have this chip on their shoulder that we are the world game but in Australia it is not.

"They are trying to score their litle points and look after their little mates but Harry's had enough of it.

"The sort of issues that are constantly brought up...it's a divide and conquer thing. It's bizarre. The AFL has a wonderful way of dealing with these things. Soccer doesn't. It shoots itself in the foot on a consistent basis.

"At the end of the day people say why doesn't soccer get any traction in this country, why is the A-League going backwards? They only have to look at themselves.

"I'm in the game. I love the game, but we are not going to go forward by running around bagging the daylights out of each other."

Mandic warned he wanted a chance for Kewell to have a full right of reply in the Sunday Telegraph where Slater's article originally ran or they could face legal action unless the former team-mate can prove his claims are true.

"If he doesn't front up with a player, we have excellent legal advice that says we have a libel case against both the Telegraph and Robbie," warned Mandic. "At the end of the day, hopefully, common sense will prevail.

"Fox did the right thing and allowed Harry to have his say. As far as we are concerned that's that and hopefully the Telegraph will allow Harry to have his say and that'll be the end of the matter.

"If they don't and is Robbie is allowed to gibber on with nonsense then legal action is the only thing you can take because you can't have someone's name and reputation slandered just because someone feels like it."

Central Coast Mariners today  told au.fourfourtwo.com that Arnold would not be commenting on anything said by Mandic.