A-League gambles on new TV deal

The A-League clubs have flicked the switch on a multimillion-dollar plan to finish the A-League, gambling on a broadcast deal being hammered out inside the next 30 days.

Sydney FC captain Alex Wilkinson is tested for COVID-19 ahead of the planned resumption of the A-League season.

The A-League clubs have flicked the switch on a multimillion-dollar plan to finish the A-League, gambling on a broadcast deal being hammered out inside the next 30 days.

More than 200 players are now back on deck and a new three-month pay deal activated before a return to training on Wednesday, while the clubs have pledged to pay close to $1m in entitlements such as annual leave and superannuation by then.

The final group of players, coaches and support staff were being tested for the coronavirus on Monday, as competition bosses aim for a restart on July 16 — but an agreement with Fox Sports to show the remaining 32 games has still not been reached.

A draft schedule for those games has been drawn up, and clubs are looking at how they can allow some numbers of spectators in, after the government announced that stadiums of up to 40,000 could allow 25 per cent capacity from July 1.

But talks continue with Fox Sports over the resumption of this season and whether the final three years of the broadcast deal will be seen through.

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Under its terms Fox is meant to pay $57m annually, but has already negotiated reduced contracts with other sports against a backdrop of an unprecedented economic downturn.

Fox Sports declined to comment, while A-League head Greg O’Rourke said he would be “continuing discussions with our broadcast partners regarding broadcast details of all matches”.

The only other hurdle still to be cleared is the safe entry of Wellington Phoenix’s squad to Australia, with Football Federation Australia still in talks with both the federal and state governments to get clearance from the relevant health authorities.

Third-placed Phoenix will have to train in isolation when they do get here, and seem set to start later than the other teams.

“Extremely disappointing we can’t get the team into Australia to start training,” Phoenix general manager David Dome tweeted. “We’re making more of a sacrifice than any other team in the A-League and we’re getting blocked — we won’t have the same training window as every other club.”

Under the draft schedule, the finals will take place over eight days, and O’Rourke said the pay deal with the players’ union agreed a fortnight ago had now been ratified in detail.

“We’d like to acknowledge the executives of the PFA and A-League clubs for their collaboration and work in getting this deal done to take us through to the completion of the season,” he said. “We can now focus on the testing of all players for COVID-19 before a return to training for the clubs this week.

The Daily Telegraph