Football Federation Australia expected to announce suspension of A-League due to coronavirus pandemic

FFA chief executive James Johnson will front the media on Tuesday for a major announcement as the nation’s biggest soccer competition looks to have suffered the same suspension fate as the AFL and NRL.

23.3.2020.Adelaide United in training, could be the final session of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. PIC TAIT SCHMAAL.

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The A-League until 9pm on Monday was the last national football competition standing, but at 9.30am on Tuesday it looks like Football Federation Australia will announce the inevitable suspension due to coronavirus pandemic.

An A-League suspension would mean that for the first time since 1942 – the height of World World II – the game could be cancelled in South Australia.

The Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City clash behind closed doors clash in Newcastle on Monday could very well be the last A-League match before the suspension is announced.

FFA chief executive James Johnson on Tuesday morning is due to make a “significant announcement” in Sydney that could have dire consequences for the wellbeing of most A-League clubs including Adelaide United, which is destined to confirm the forced hiatus.

It’s understood FFA was reliant upon a government directive as to whether the game could continue to finish its season, which for Adelaide United is just five games away, after the AFL and NRL suspended their seasons over the past couple of days.

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Off contract Adelaide United player Kristian Opseth (left) and Paul Izzo with students Luca Fouyaxis 10, Charlotte Zhang, 9, Nicholas Belegris, 9, and Claudia Lee, 9, at Immanuel College earlier this season.

And off contract Adelaide players will be the most vulnerable, at the mercy of the global pandemic, and also Reds youngsters without scholarship contracts that have given up school and or study as they trained full-time.

United’s four off contract foreigners, Danish captain Michael Jakobsen, German Mirko Boland penned a deal with Germany’s VfB Lübeck which starts during the 2020/21 pre-season, Norway’s Kristian Opseth and Chinese experiment Yongbin Chen could soon be scrambling for a return home to nations where borders are closed.

Michael Maria – a Dutch-born Curacao international – is the only Reds visa player contract, almost halfway through his two-year deal.

FFA have been contacted for comment.