Asian Cup 2015: A-League can’t mix it financially with cashed-up leagues to lure Asia stars

EXPERTS have warned that A-League clubs simply can’t offer the wages to lure the cream of Asian football to Australia on a fulltime basis.

Palestine v Jordan - 2015 Asian Cup

A-LEAGUE coaches may watch the cream of Asian football playing here covetously, but experts have warned that Australian clubs simply can’t offer the wages to lure them here fulltime.

The cashed-up football economies from west to east Asia put the salary-capped A-League in context as “still a very young, immature competition”, according to agents involved in bringing players to the competition.

Hamza Al-Dardour earns $250,000 at Al-Khaleej in Saudi Arabia.

While the absolute stars of Asian football earn money that many EPL sides would baulk at, at least a third of the Iranian squad at the Asian Cup is believed to earn between $US900,000-$US2m net.

Even the Jordanian striker Hamza Al-Dardour, scorer of four goals against Palestine but not a first choice for his country, earns $250,000 at Al-Khaleej in Saudi Arabia.

That explains why so far there has been little talk of players being sought out for a move to Australia - the Uzbekistan striker Sardor Rashidov is one of the few to have attracted interest from here, but even he plays for the wealthy Tashkent side Bunyodkor.

According to Lou Sticca, the agent responsible for bringing Shinji Ono to the Wanderers, those figures immediately price the bulk of players out of Australian clubs’ reach - especially as they have cooled on marquee signings.

“Clearly a number of Asian players have caught the eye of Australian fans and clubs, you’d be blind not to see which players could add value,” Sticca said.

UAE star Omar Abdulrahman would command serious money.

“But the brutal reality is that those players are generally being paid money that would prevent them being included in the salary cap.

“For someone like Omar Abdulrahman of the UAE you’re talking serious marquee wages, and in the past couple of years we’ve seen the clubs going off the marquee concept - plus you have to question how many would have the courage to consider an Asian marquee, as opposed to European or South American.”

“Unfortunately in an economic sense we are a very young, immature competition - and the broader context is how long we can afford to have a cap if we’re serious about attracting players.”

A popular idea, though resisted so far by Football Federation Australia, is the “3+1” concept, where clubs would be allowed four foreign players but the fourth would have to be Asian. But as another agent with strong links to China, Leo Karis, pointed out, that won’t change the economics.

“I know that Chinese club scouts and clubs are looking closely at the Asian Cup to secure top players for the Chinese Super League - that’s who we’re competing with,” said Karis.

“They’re seriously cashed up as we’re seeing with Tomi Juric and Nathan Burns (both the target of multi-million-dollar offers from Shanghai).

“It’s definitely an uphill battle for A-League clubs. Even if you introduce a 3+1 rule, you’ve still got to be able to fund the +1. In a handful of cases you can look at other motivations beyond money but that requires clubs to do a lot of work in identifying players who might want a lifestyle change for instance.”

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: A-League can’t mix it financially with cashed-up leagues to lure Asia stars