A-League boss Greg O’Rourke delivers as Melbourne teams get go-ahead

A defiant Greg O’Rourke has delivered on his A-League promise that the season will go ahead, but accepts people may still call for his head.

FFA head of leagues Greg O’Rourke. Picture: AAP

A defiant Greg O’Rourke has delivered on his A-League promise that the season will go ahead – but accepts people may still call for his head.

Bringing an end to the troubling saga that has engulfed the game, the embattled A-League boss took the weight of criticism from the past week’s events on his own shoulders and declared his only goal had been to ensure the A-League returns next Thursday because “the buck stops with me”.

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It’s understood the three stranded Melbourne teams were late on Thursday night granted exemptions to enter NSW and join the A-League hub following a week of intense negotiations between FFA and the NSW government – giving new life to a season that was in extreme doubt.

Earlier on Thursday, O’Rourke revealed the A-League grand final could be pushed back a week from its scheduled August 23 date and cleared the air with angry and frustrated players – while accepting his own position is under pressure.

But for O’Rourke, only one thing was important.

“It doesn’t matter about people calling for my head,” O’Rourke said.

“If it means in the end for people to want me to lose my role … that’s a possibility that is for others, but until that happens – if that happens – I’m going to be solely focused on getting that exemption, on getting the game back on the pitch, finishing the 27 games and the final series and delivering the A-League.”

FFA chief executive James Johnson thanked the NSW government for its understanding and support with this request.

“I would personally like to thank the NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and NSW Heath Minister, Brad Hazzard, for granting this exemption during these extraordinary times,” Johnson said.

“We understand our responsibilities to the people of NSW now this exemption has been granted and our clubs will continue to adhere to the strict COVID-safe protocols that they have been observing since early June for the remainder of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season.

“Greg O’Rourke and the team have worked extremely hard during the coronavirus pandemic, and we have overcome considerable challenges to get ourselves back on track to complete the season.

“I would also like to thank the three clubs from Victoria, their players and staff, as well as their families at home, who have been flexible and done everything possible, with much sacrifice, to ensure they are able to complete the season.

“Now that we have certainty that all our clubs will be ready for the restart, we will look to modify our match schedule accordingly to give all teams the opportunity to perform at their best.”

Teams will be able to fly to Sydney as soon as they return negative COVID-19 tests – with flights pencilled in for Friday morning.

Western United is the only team currently holding outstanding COVID-19 results.

One further headache awaits FFA, but it’s one O’Rourke says they’re well prepared for.

The teams will now have to quarantine for 14 days – a period within which the teams will be able to train – throwing the league’s revised schedule into disarray, with two Melbourne derbies among the first five games to be played.

O’Rourke says the schedule is flexible enough to shift up to four games including Melbourne sides, with player contracts valid until August 30 – allowing the grand final to potentially shift back an entire week, if required.

“We remain optimistic we’ll finish the season … two or three games will be moved within the schedule,” O’Rourke said.

“That’s nothing we can’t build in, and we still remain completely focused on finishing the season of 27 remaining games but also bringing a final series.

“And depending on how COVID rolls out in certain states and territories, we also look forward maybe to having the opportunity of having crowds, members and others join us to watch those games.”

Defending the shambolic scenes that left all three teams twice stranded on the tarmac, O’Rourke said the league had been let down by the weather – when fog descended upon Canberra on Monday night and destroyed plans to leave Melbourne before the border lockdown came into effect at midnight – but also by government misinformation.

“Our information not only verbally but also in writing was that there was no talk of border closures between Victoria and NSW,” O’Rourke said.

“The border hadn’t closed in a hundred years and we should continue to monitor the situation.

“I decided to book a charter jet for Tuesday, irrespective of what was happening.”

In response to criticisms from the players of O’Rourke’s handling of the two botched escapes – in which he was accused of ad-hoc planning and a lack of clarity – he was sympathetic to the players’ frustrations, but bullish in the A-League’s approach.

“We haven’t given up. We won’t give up. And if a door closes, we’ll look to walk through another one,” he said.

“That might appear to be ad-hoc, but to others it might appear to be agile.”

Melbourne Victory are set to play Western United in the opening fixture of the resumed season on July 16, a fixture which is now certain to be rescheduled.