ACT Sport Minister Andrew Barr fears the Canberra soccer community will shun Saturday's A-League clash between the Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United - a game that is likely to be the competition's last in the capital.
With Canberra's chances of winning its own A-League licence unlikely in the short term, Barr declared yesterday the Government would reconsider its funding of games between out-of-town clubs.
He was concerned Football Federation Australia's decision to hand western Sydney its 12th A-League licence ahead of Canberra would hinder the momentum of soccer in the capital, resulting in empty seats at the Mariners' home game.
''I am worried because I have heard pretty extensively that fans will show their displeasure of not getting the A-League licence,'' Barr said.
While Barr remains sceptical about any future Canberra involvement with the A-League, he is hopeful the capital can continue hosting internationals.
More than 20,000 fans packed Canberra Stadium to watch the Socceroos play Kuwait in an Asian Cup qualifier in March.
Just 5139 attended the most recent A-League match between the Mariners and Perth Glory last month.
''Our recommendation to the FFA is that if they want to build momentum then the Socceroos are the way to do that and we're very keen to host our national teams,'' Barr said.
''One of the things we need to talk to the FFA about is if they want to continue to play matches in Canberra that in fact they might be better served bringing the national team here if they want to promote the sport.
''What you want is high-quality football and certainly the Socceroos can provide that.
''That's where we'll be pitching for future football in Canberra.''
While ticket sales for the match have been slow, Capital Football boss Heather Reid was hopeful of attracting a crowd of 7000.
A-League for Canberra bid leader Ivan Slavich hoped missing out on the 12th licence would not deter fans from attending the game.
Slavich said boycotting the game would send the wrong message to the FFA, which he believed could still award Canberra an A-League licence in the future.
''It'd be extremely disappointing if fans did in fact provide a backlash by not attending the game, that's the wrong approach to take,'' Slavich said.
''While I share many of the frustrations, we did put forward a credible bid, but I think the absolute worst signal we can send to the FFA is to boycott the game.
''We are still in the mix to be part of the A-League in the future [and a poor turnout] will just hurt our chances of getting an A-League team.''
Reid is far more optimistic about attracting a decent crowd.
''I'd be happy if we got at least 5000 but obviously we'll be aiming for about 7000,'' Reid said.
''I think people will still want an A-League experience in Canberra.
''[There's been a] little bit of water under the bridge since that first game, which was early on in the season and people were still locked in to all sorts of things that night.
''It was Friday night, it was school holidays, it was world mountain bike championships, it was rugby league finals, I think the AFL preliminary finals, there was a lot of things impacting on us that made it a challenge to get a good crowd.''
While Barr was sceptical about paying for future A-League fixtures, he said he would monitor the success of Canberra United's W-League clash against the Mariners which would be staged as a match-day curtain-raiser.
Reid hoped Canberrans wouldn't punish Canberra United by boycotting the men's game.
''Canberra United had a good win at the weekend and we're hoping fans get out to support them at Canberra Stadium [and] then stay for the men's game,'' Reid said.