Two potential investors in a new A-League Men's and Women's franchise were included on a call with ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry, Capital Football officials and key Australian Professional League leaders this week to discuss the team's plight.

The result was simple: Berry told Capital Football boss Samantha Farrow to put in writing how much the team needed to stay afloat. Farrow wrote a letter saying the magic number was $200,000, and the government came to the party.

What followed, however, wasn't as simple. Because the Canberra Liberals had also been speaking with Farrow, and had drawn up plans to offer a $300,000 one-off payment if the party was successful at the ACT election later this year.

Farrow had agreed to be at a press conference on Thursday morning to announce the Liberals' plan, even offering to help with access to McKellar Park.

Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee and Liberals sport spokesman James Milligan were locked in to attend until Farrow sent an email to Lee's office late on Wednesday informing them she was no longer available because of "other commitments".

Talk about political football.

"The first thing is, I think every Canberran is happy there's been a funding boost. But you do have to question the timing of the announcement," Lee said.

"I think most Canberrans will be able to see the timeline and look at it for what it is."

Asked if Farrow pulled out because of the deal with government, Lee said: "It's hard to say, that can only be answered by Capital Football."

Playing politics has become a dangerous game in Canberra given Labor's stranglehold on election wins. It's not that the government doesn't invite debate, but there are fears speaking out of turn will come back to bite you.

For the government's part, they have been closely monitoring the Canberra United situation since The Canberra Times revealed last month there was a real risk of the team folding.

Berry said she was in regular contact with Farrow, A-Leagues boss Nick Garcia and the team behind Canberra's bid for an A-League Men's licence.

Berry described Canberra's chances of getting an A-League Men's team this year - which would also oversee the women's team - as "murky".

"We've been having a lot of conversations and meetings with Capital Football, with the A-League [bid team] and the A-League themselves to work on a solution," Berry said.

"Unfortunately the [men's-team bid] hasn't come to fruition yet, so it left Canberra United in a place where Capital Football couldn't afford to continue to operate the team.

"I really appreciated Nick Garcia's support throughout all of this and being able to talk to him about the proposal [and] the A-League's decision for a team in Canberra.

"... Good on the Canberra Liberals for supporting Canberra United. There's a bandwagon there, welcome aboard. There's plenty of room."

The one-off $200,000 payment takes the government's total financial contribution to $450,000 (which includes the annual $250,000).

The increased contribution, combined with new revenue and sponsorship strategies pursued by Capital Football and the more than $75,000 raised by fan group 'Save Canberra United', has been assured by the ACT soccer governing body to be enough to keep the foundation A-League club alive at least another season.

"I was deeply concerned ... we can't let this team go under, we've had so much success," Berry said.

"It's important that we make sure this team continues, but the ACT government can't do that on our own. That's why I'm keen to ensure what happens in the long term is a sustainable and viable approach.

"We're not just throwing money willy nilly. We have to make sure government funds are spent appropriately. There's a national push for more equality in women's sport and I absolutely back that ... we are catching up, but there's still a fair way to go."

Capital Football confirmed the additional government funding will be allocated specifically for operating United next season and not used to cover any previous financial losses.

Now United players and coaching staff eagerly await signing new contracts after talks were stalled late last season due to the uncertainty surrounding 2024-25.

"The next steps for Canberra United is to formalise a general manager position who will be responsible for managing team operations including the signing of players and coaches," Farrow said.

The government deal comes with stipulations. There will be "additional community engagement activities" from United, and "additional sponsorship and signage opportunities and access to profile players to promote Canberra". Brand "CBR" will also be on the team's shorts.

Despite being enough government funding for United to play next season, Farrow confirmed there will be a shortfall of another $200,000 with a "minimalistic budget" in place for the women's team.

"It has the full salary cap, the travel costs and everything like that in there, but there's not a lot of room for additional services outside the bare minimum," she said.

"If we are successful in getting that [shortfall] covered, and a bit more, I'm absolutely looking forward to being able to provide some extra services to professionalise this team in every way.

"The team is running - at this point with the loss that we're currently forecasting. What I'm trying to do is that we can implement some new ideas ... we're hoping that will then help to go towards the shortfall.

"Capital Football we will be working closely with 'Save Canberra United' on some fundraising ideas like the release of a new supporter shirt celebrating the 146 players that have already played for Canberra United, some new sponsorship packages and updated membership categories."

The 'Save Canberra United' fan group plan to continue their fundraising initiatives to ensure the shortfall does not impact the women's team operation.

"We will have a whole series of events involving players, merchandise, auctions, trivia nights, all that can actually both create a fan experience and more money," the fundraising group spokesperson Sue Read said.

"Then it's about player experience, sponsorship investment and fan experience - so they're all the things we'd love to help with going forward into the season.

"This [funding] is the first step to give the Capital Football board confidence to go ahead, the next step is we've got to get enough to support players.

"Most of us couldn't live on $25,500 over nine months - we're paying players minimum wage. The next step is to get a proper investment of another couple hundred thousand."

It is expected the men's team will get over the line eventually, but when that happens is still unknown as delays have been ongoing for 10 months.

The funding announcement buys more time for the Australian Professional Leagues to sign a deal with a $20 million backer, which should also see the women's team become part of a single A-League club.

Farrow, Berry and the A-League Men investor group met on Wednesday to discuss the situation at United for next season, and the Capital Football boss said it appeared the bid was still "moving in a positive direction".

"Hopefully we're not waiting too much longer and they get somewhere soon," Farrow said. "For Canberra to have a professional men and women's football team will be amazing.

"Having met the guys that are involved in this bid and understanding a little bit of their experience, I think Canberra is in for a great time ahead with the team as we can get it up and running."

The big question is what will happen to United following next season, and when the men's A-League bid is finally announced, if the group want to take over the women's team before next season.

Capital Football had previously expressed its reluctance to commit to United beyond this past season due to the financial impact on community soccer, and now they only have the minimum budget to keep the team going another year.

Farrow said they would be "open to all options" if the men's bid group wanted to come on board earlier than initially planned to take over the women's team.

"I'm hopeful that for season 2025-26 there will be a more professional outfit that is better suited to running Canberra United into the future," Farrow said.

"I'm still expecting an announcement [on a successful men's bid]," she added.

"I don't know when that will be made. I believe it's all still going through the processes that the A-League and the investment team need to go through.

"I would imagine it's going to be very hard to stand up an entire men's for 2024-25, but I don't rule out the ability of this investment team to pull things together if they need to, when they get the go-ahead."