Victory chairman quits APL board amid bitter fallout over sale of A-League finals to Sydney

Melbourne Victory’s chairman Anthony Di Pietro has resigned as a director of the Australian Professional Leagues amid continuing fallout in soccer from the contentious decision to sell the A-League grand finals to Sydney for three years.

Di Pietro said his decision, effective immediately, was directly linked to the controversial move for the showpiece men’s and women’s matches to be a played in a single predetermined host city.

Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro.Credit: Getty Images

“It has become clear that in order for me to act in the best interests of Melbourne Victory and football in Victoria, I needed to resign as a board member of APL,” Di Pietro said.

“My resignation was ultimately driven by the decision announced yesterday, that sees the next three grand finals being hosted in Sydney.”

The move has split A-League club owners and prompted some fans of Melbourne’s two biggest clubs to promise a walkout during Saturday’s derby in protest.

Domestic football in Australia has long stood apart from the other codes by granting the highest-placing team the right to host the A-League decider, which has been taken to all five major capital cities in the competition’s near-20 year history.

But the APL has traded away this national reach for an eight-figure fee - believed to exceed $15 million, according to sources - from Destination NSW, the state government’s lead tourism arm, which will see the grand finals played in Sydney through to the end of 2025.

Major events sources told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald that soccer administrators had for years unsuccessfully attempted to secure a long-term grand final hosting deal with a state government. These attempts predate the APL’s take-over of the A-League. However, this time they had not negotiated with other states.

One source, speaking anonymously because past negotiations were confidential, said the reported $15 million offered by NSW was well above what other states would have been willing to pay.

Governments determine an appropriate price for events based on crowd sizes - which have dropped in the A-League - TV ratings and the likelihood the fans will travel from interstate. Sources noted that the NSW government had a new sports minister appointed in August and was facing an election in March.

In a statement, Di Pietro said he could no longer maintain his role as an APL Director and be able to freely advocate on behalf of Melbourne Victory.

“While I know first-hand the decision by APL was made with a view to growing the game and creating financial sustainability for the league, the fan and member sentiment has been overwhelming and I cannot support maintaining a decision which is not in the best interests of the loyal Melbourne Victory faithful and football,” Di Pietro said.

Di Pietro said he and Melbourne Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie had urged the APL to pause the plan and consider an alternative that supported the growth and stability of the league, while also allowing both the men’s and women’s grand finals to continue to be played in the city of the highest ranked qualifier.

Carnegie added that while it is natural for there to be tension between the competition regulator and clubs on certain matters, in this case, they would stand with their members and fans, who are the lifeblood of the club.

“We have a unique opportunity to capitalise on the growth of the game following the successful Socceroos campaign, and in the lead into the Women’s World Cup in Australia next year, and to do that we need the professional game to flourish, with fans at the core of our thinking,” said Carnegie.

Western United, which won the last championship at AAMI Park, also criticised the move.

“We do not support the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s, Liberty A-League Women’s or the E-League grand finals being played in Sydney for the next three seasons,” United said in a statement.

“Our club isn’t represented on the APL board, and we weren’t consulted on the decision announced yesterday. While we are grateful to Destination NSW for wanting to support football financially and the APL’s efforts to increase its commercial revenue, the reaction of our fans over the last 24 hours speaks volumes.

“Western United is a young club that is being built for the football fans in the west of Melbourne and Victoria. We strongly believe that they are entitled to attend a grand final in their home state should we be successful in earning the right to do so.”

Victoria’s sports minister Steve Dimopoulos expressed his disappointment, also on behalf of other states.

“An essential part of football, of what makes it popular and loved is local active support. It’s why we opened up live sites for Socceroos games, it’s why we are supporting an All Nations Cup,” Dimopoulos said via Twitter.

“Victorians and our government love & invest in football, so it was disappointing not to be engaged in this APL grand final decision. It’s not just us who are disappointed - other states weren’t engaged either. We hope for a better way for all and for football in future.”

Ahead of Saturday’s Melbourne derby, City winger Marco Tilio said while the decision was “out of our hands” as players, he hoped the fans would stay for the derby for the full 90 minutes and support the team because “the players, I think, are more important”.

“[We] can’t control that [a walkout]. The fans obviously are frustrated. But for me, as a player, I’ll just go out there to perform,” said Tilio.

Teammate and Socceroos hero Mathew Leckie shared similar thoughts and added he didn’t think the grand final controversy took any shine off the World Cup good will.

Leckie said, although it was “completely understandable” for fans to be upset right now, he hoped what the national team achieved overseas would help get people in stadiums and grow the game.

Tilio added that hopefully all the fans who got behind the Socceroos in Qatar would get behind the A-League. “Because there is quality in the league and I think they showed that in the World Cup so hopefully they [the fans] can come around to the games,” he said.

Melbourne city play Melbourne Victory on Saturday 17, December at 7.45pm at AAMI Park.

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