A-League: FFA expansion snub riles clubs

The war between the A-League clubs and Football Federation Australia shows no signs of a ceasefire.

Australian Professional Football Clubs Association chairman Greg Griffin. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The war between the A-League clubs and Football Federation Australia shows no signs of a ceasefire, with revelations the clubs are refusing to attend a meeting with the governing body over the proposed expansion of the competition.

The Australian understands the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, which represents all 10 A-League clubs, has written to FFA demanding it meets a number of conditions before the clubs will consider any form of consultation. The clubs’ chairmen say their views have been “further hardened” following FFA’s announcement last week of Deloitte as lead advisers to assist with the A-League expansion.

FFA has received expressions of interests from 10 bids as it looks to add two new teams for the 2019-20 season. But APFCA believes it has been left out of the process, and claims FFA wants to hold a meeting “so as to publicly validate that consultation has taken place”.

“If your consultation ambitions were genuine and appropriate you would have engaged our foreign owners before unilaterally appointing Deloitte and sneaking the press release out on a Friday afternoon,” APFCA chairman Greg Griffin wrote.

He went on to list several demands “if you truly wish to engage with the APFCA on this matter in a meaningful way”.

Those demands include: a copy of the EOI sent out; a list of those bids that have received it directly; a copy of the strategy and tactical plans FFA is currently implementing and that have been signed off by its board, including assumptions around thresholds required for demographics, infrastructure, football pathways etc; the financial modelling on which FFA is basing the expansion strategy, including assumptions regarding licence fees and distributions; current television deal uplifts; current and future media rights sales; the evolution of the A-League commercial inventory model; the proposed agenda for a meeting between APFCA and the FFA executive.

“In reality, it is actually unacceptable that we are without several of the documents listed,” Griffin wrote. “Moreover, without them being provided to us we would regard the invitation to attend a meeting as yet more window-dressing to add credibility to your unilateral actions.”

The situation comes after the clubs won a battle over proposed changes to the A-League’s visa player situation. As it stands, every club is allowed five foreign players. However, FFA wanted to change it to four plus one — the one being the inclusion of an Asian player. The clubs want to retain the old system.

FFA has agreed to put the matter on hold “to allow further time to undergo more research in terms of the potential impact of the proposed expansion of the A-League on the foreign player policy and the development in collaboration with the clubs on Asian engagement strategy”.