A-League Melbourne Heart-Wellington Match On March 16 To Clash With F1 Grand Prix

Any chance A-League side Melbourne Heart might have of "capitalising on its barnstorming run by drawing a big crowd to its next home match has been stymied" by Football Federation Australia scheduling that "pits the club against one of the biggest sports events of the year" -- the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, according to Michael Lynch of THE AGE. Heart had a gate of "close to 26,000 for its home derby against Melbourne Victory." Given Heart's "push for the finals and tremendous form it would have hoped to have built its following for the next home game against Wellington Phoenix on March 16." Or "it would if the FFA had moved the game." The FFA, however, was "reluctant to do so, and the match will kick off at 4pm that day -- just an hour before Australia's F1 race starts." A Heart spokesperson said, "We saw that potential clash when the fixtures came out and asked them to move it, but they said it wasn't possible" (THE AGE, 3/4).