A-League player anger rises over Melbourne fiasco

The A-League season is in extreme doubt after the players’ association issued a set of demands to FFA having unloaded both barrels over the 48-hour Melbourne fiasco.

A-League players prepare to board a bus at AAMI Park on Tuesday before their plans for leaving Melbourne fell through

The A-League season is in extreme doubt after the players’ association delivered a telling blow on Wednesday, issuing a set of demands to Football Federation Australia having unloaded both barrels over the 48-hour Melbourne fiasco.

Late on Wednesday, officials remained in intense discussions to get the three stranded Melbourne sides across the border with the clock ticking on the A-League’s season resumption.

Just seven days remain before the first post-break fixture, between Western United and Melbourne Victory, and the Professional Footballers Australia turned the heat up on the game’s governing body by issuing a remarkable set of demands to head of leagues Greg O’Rourke.

Two failed attempts in a 24-hour period to join the Sydney hub by way of flying to Canberra fell flat and left members of the three Melbourne clubs “embarrassed, frustrated and entirely lacking confidence in the process”.

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The three clubs, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United, twice packed up their lives to get to Tullamarine airport in time to catch flights for Canberra, only to be left on the tarmac.

And while they’ve outwardly been supportive of FFA efforts to get them across the border, that goodwill dried up late on Tuesday night after a second aborted ­mission.

The PFA insists there is no boycott threat, but says clubs have “lost confidence” in FFA over the travel fiasco.

Among the demands from the players are that they be provided with proof that exemptions have been granted to leave Victoria, full briefings on the travel, accommodation and training details, as well as personal restrictions while in the hub, and that efforts are made to allow families to join.

On Monday, they were stopped by thick fog that made for unsafe flying.

But moods soured after the second attempt when they were informed — after arriving at the airport — that they would be subject to a strict two-week quarantine in the ACT, a decision which caught the A-League clubs by surprise as they’d been under the impression a partial border exemption had been secured.

Meanwhile, the silence from FFA headquarters has been deafening apart from a midnight press release on Tuesday which praised the clubs’ sacrifices — but failed to quell their anger.

A PFA statement delivered on behalf of the league’s stars was unequivocal in its message.

“What the players and their families have had to endure over the past 48 hours is unacceptable,” the statement read.

“The lack of clarity, the ad hoc planning and shifting commitments have left the players embarrassed, frustrated and entirely lacking confidence in the process.”

The coach of competition leader Sydney FC, Steve Corica, expressed sympathy for his rivals.

“It must be very frustrating for the players, coaching staff and I think some families as well, who were coming up.”