Football Australia met with the government last week in the hopes of holding the final at Canberra Stadium for the next three seasons.

It's believed the asking price was a hefty $500,000 per year, with the next three deciders of the competition on the table.

While the government denied making a counter offer, it's believed they felt a price of $80,000 for the first year and then an additional $50,000 per year after that was more realistic.

That's a gap of more than $1.3 million between the two parties.

FA were currently in the process of renaming the competition, given they've recently changed their name from Football Federation Australia.

They declined to comment when contacted by The Canberra Times on Friday.

The FFA Cup pits premier league clubs from around the country against the A-League clubs in a knock-out format that's based on the historic English FA Cup.

Canberra Olympic famously made it to the FFA Cup semi-finals in 2016, where they went down 3-0 to Sydney FC at Viking Park.

FA and the ACT government have had a frosty relationship at times, especially after Canberra missed out on an A-League team in 2009.

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In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr ruled out the capital getting involved in any bidding wars for major sporting events.

The government said they couldn't afford the FFA Cup final, but would continue to support soccer in Canberra.

They've committed $20 million to building a soccer complex at Throsby, although the project has been delayed due to a heritage site assessment.

Plus, they'll host a Matildas game at some point in the future as part of the deal to back Throsby.

"The ACT government met with Football Australia regarding hosting of the FFA Cup final," a government spokesperson said.

"Unfortunately the impacts of COVID-19 and the level of investment required to host the FFA Cup final have meant the ACT is not in a position to partner with the FA at this time.

"No counter offer was made.

"The ACT government remains committed to supporting local football and increasing grassroots participation, which is evident through funding support for the Throsby home of football - which will include outdoor football participation space, indoor futsal courts, office accommodation and other amenities.

"The ACT government also continues to invest in Canberra United in the W-League through our performance partnership program and looks forward to hosting a Matildas match under a current agreement with FA."