Capital Football boss Chris Gardiner says the proposed Home of Football in Throsby needs urgent Federal funding as fears grow the project costs could blow out to almost $50 million.
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The ACT government budget on Tuesday revealed another delay in construction plans, with the new opening date pushed back to June 2024 - two years after its initial proposed completion date.
The latest timeframe setback will make the venue unavailable to be a training centre for women's World Cup teams during the historic tournament in Australia and New Zealand next year.
But there are growing concerns about the cost rises in the coming years, with the latest estimate for stage one and stage two jumping to $48 million. Stage two includes parking and surrounding fields.
Issues with the site and increasing building costs have already seen the price rise from $24 million to $33 million, but Gardiner says the latest projection is for another $15 million to be added to the bill.
The ACT government has already committed $29 million and Capital Football will inject $4-5 million of its own money, with Gardiner preparing to lobby federal politicians for a major commitment to ensure the project can still be delivered.
"We're pretty much working every week with the ACT government on this," Gardiner said.
"The allocation of funding from the ACT government is quite significant and they should be commended. But the challenge now is that in all other states, the Commonwealth has made contributions for football facilities.
"To the tune of $15 million and $16 million in Victoria and Western Australia. For this project to be completed, with building costs rising there are 10-20 per cent increases every quarter this doesn't start. It's absolutely crucial for the Commonwealth to make the contribution.
"It's the women's World Cup next year, this is the only jurisdiction with a standalone women's [A-League side] and a significant participation level ... I think it would be pretty hard for the Commonwealth not to agree to this.
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"The project needs to start yesterday. We'll exhaust cash reserves and go into debt to make our contribution, which puts immense pressure on us."
The ACT government announced the Throsby plans in 2019 with a construction expected to be finished in less than three years.
But the government had to complete a heritage assessment of the 28 hectares of land and flood planning had to be added to the design.
The government shuffled funding around in Tuesday's budget, moving significant contributions across budgets for the coming years after the latest building delay. Construction is now expected to begin early next year and complete by September, but the fields won't be available until halfway through 2024.
"Work on the Home of Football is progressing well with funding moved into 2023-24 to better align with planning complexities and timeframes and the anticipated commencement of work on site in early 2023," a government spokesperson said.
"The ACT government continues to work closely with Capital Football to ensure the design meets the requirements of users, including Canberra United.
"The construction program will be finalised once all necessary planning approvals are in place."
It was hoped the multi-field facility would be a training option for the best international female players, who will be in Australia and New Zealand for the women's World Cup in July and August next year.
It's understood there are still other facilities in the capital that could be used as a tournament base, but there will also need to be a significant financial commitment to cover the team's costs, including extra travel.
The ACT government withdrew from Australia's women's World Cup bid because of the high costs associated with being a host city. Canberra also withdrew from this year's men's Twenty20 World Cup and 2027 men's rugby World Cup proposals.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government would instead focus on cash injections for teams based in the capital and one-off events where the city can get bang for its buck.
The ACT Brumbies and Canberra Raiders finalised new performance agreements earlier this year, while a new deal to continue a partnership with the GWS Giants is close to be finalised.
There was no funding allocation for the Giants in the 2022-23 budget as the government prepares for the end of a 10-year, $23 million arrangement.
"The current agreement with the Giants ends on 31 December 2022, with negotiations continuing on a new agreement to be in place for the 2023 season," a government spokesperson said.
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