'Concerned' Football Australia urges fans to 'focus on the bigger picture' amid A-League crisis

A-League club bosses met in Melbourne on Thursday for crisis talks in the aftermath of the Australian Professional Leagues' announcement this week that every men's and women's final for the next three years would be played in Sydney, regardless of the teams involved.

Canberra United did not have a vote in the meeting.

On Monday the APL board revealed they had sold the grand final hosting rights to Destination NSW, the tourism arm of the NSW government, in an attempt to "build a tradition for fans".

However it was met with anger from official supporter groups, clubs, players and even Socceroo Craig Goodwin, who had quotes of his used out of context in the announcement.

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson expressed disappointment at the impact the news has had on devoted fans of the A-Leagues, and distanced FA from the decision, revealing he only learned of the deal the night before it was announced.

"We've got a new governance structure in the sport now. Our role with the A-League is to regulate and to govern, so commercial discussions are driven by the APL," he said.

"I did receive a phone call the night before to inform me about it, but other than that, we were not involved in the process.

"These decisions are very complex, there's a lot of different considerations that go into them.

"Ultimately, on one hand, we need the economy to continue to grow - that's important because the sport needs more money - but on the other hand, we need to ensure that our fans are happy, and proud in our football content, and this is something that I hope can get resolved very soon."

After the success of the Socceroos in Qatar, Johnson urged the football-loving community in Australia to focus on the positives, such as the imminent announcement of a second-tier league, and a FIFA Women's World Cup next year.

"I think just as a sport we need to keep focused on that bigger picture, and remember that we are in a golden period," he said.

"We've just come off our most successful campaign in the men's World Cup, and most successful off the park, and we are going into our first ever Women's World Cup being hosted on our shores in July 2023.

"Of course it's a concern when when you see backlash from fans, because ultimately, fans are important and at the centre of competitions.

"As far as we're concerned, we need a strong league, we need fans that are excited to be at matches, and I hope that this decision gets resolved very soon."

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