Former Socceroo and Brisbane Roar Football Director, Craig Moore, has hired a lawyer to take action against the club for "defamatory statements" made in the wake of Jerseygate.

Craig Moore announced his immediate resignation from the role in January, yet was supposed to serve a notice period. At the time, Moore said he was "very satisfied" with his work at the club.

However, following the Roar's shocking 3-2 Asian Champions League loss to Philipino side Ceres-Negros, in which Brisbane's shirt numbers literally peeled off the players backs, Roar Vice-Chairman, Chris Fong, publicly blamed Moore for the problem. 

“We have a football director and the buck stops with him,” Fong told The World Game after the ACL debacle. 

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

Now, Moore's hitting back through his lawyer, Tim Fuller, who is preparing to file an arbitration application with Football Federation Australia (FFA). Moore is also considering taking action under the Fair Work Act.

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

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

“No explanation has ever been offered for this.”

What's an arbitration application?

By submitting an arbitration application, Craig Moore and Brisbane Roar will meet with an arbitrator - an official FFA adjudicator - to resolve the issue.

It's unclear about the potential punishment Roar faces in this case, however defamation can be taken seriously, and can even become a legal matter in certain cases.

The arbitration meeting will take place over the next three weeks, as per FFA guidelines.