A-League side Perth Glory "could face possible sanctions from Football Federation Australia after refusing to play in a pre-season friendly against NSW Premier League club Sydney Olympic" on Wednesday, according to Ray Gatt of THE AUSTRALIAN. In what is looming as an "embarrassing situation" for the Western Australians, Olympic officials "were left stunned when Glory turned up for the game at Belmore Oval" before informing the club that it would not take the field. The decision not to play "is remarkable given the two clubs are close to signing a memorandum of understanding to forge a partnership." That must now be "in serious doubt with Olympic left to carry the cost of ground hire, corporate boxes, fees for match officials, security and catering." No official reason "has been given for the last-minute pullout by Glory." According to coach Kenny Lowe "it was his decision to call off the game." Lowe: "I made the decision not to play. Unfortunately we couldn’t prepare correctly to play the game. We had no changing rooms, no warm-up area. I made a professional decision that if we can’t prepare correctly for a game then we are not going to play the game" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/23).
