A-League’s 36-day season blitz

The A-League season would be finished in a blizzard of 36 days of almost continuous football, under a resumption plan put forward to clubs and TV broadcasters.

Sydney FC’s goalscoring hero Adam Le Fondre had led the club’s title defence

The A-League season would be finished in a blizzard of 36 days of almost continuous football, under a resumption plan put forward to clubs and TV broadcasters.

The remaining rounds and finals series would begin on July 18 with the grand final slated for August 22, as part of the schedule which requires the agreement of Fox Sports and the conclusion of a pay deal with players to cover the extra three months needed to finish the season.

The games would all be played in a single hub, based in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, with players based locally for the duration – playing 32 games in 36 days, including the 27 outstanding league games plus five finals.

But it seems certain that the games will be played in empty stadiums, despite the NRL’s hopes of bringing some form of crowds back to games from the start of July.

Clubs say they do not expect sporting events to have crowds permitted in time for the remainder of this season, though A-League bosses will be guided by the prevailing medical regulations at the time.

A-League followers have been waiting for details of the competition’s resumption, with the NRL coming back this week and the AFL slated for a restart on June 11.

If the A-League schedule is approved by Fox Sports, the final hurdle would be to agree a pay deal with the players’ association and the A-League clubs.

Though the players reacted with anger to an offer from FFA last week which could involve a significant reduction for the three months in question, several sources say there is the willingness to conclude a deal quickly.

Squads would then return to pre-season in the first half of June – though the exact make-up of those squads remains to be seen, with more than 100 players due to come off contract as of next Monday.

That deadline has cast a lengthening shadow over discussions with the players, given the legal minefield associated with trying to keep players at the clubs they were playing for before the competition’s suspension once their contracts have expired.

As well as the pay, various points of contention have to be settled, including the question of whether players could be able to opt out of any mass extension of contracts for three months, and the level of health and hygiene measures observed at each club.

But perhaps the biggest issue will be the lack of clarity over what next season’s competition finances will look like. All sports are in the process of renegotiating broadcast deals in the wake of the damage caused by the coronavirus to the economy, and sponsorship income has dried up.

FFA will have to renegotiate the remaining three years on its broadcast deal with Fox Sports, reducing the current value of $57 million a year, and then agree a revamped salary cap with the A-League players dependent on how significant that reduction proves to be.