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FFA CEO David Gallop Shoots Down Proposal To Include Asian Teams In A-League

Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop has dismissed the prospect of Asian teams "being invited to join the A-League," according to Tom Smithies of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Gallop said that the sport's governing body had "no enthusiasm" for a plan hatched by several existing owners. Listing a "raft of reasons why FFA had blocked the initiative -- under which up to six teams" from the Southeast Asia (Asean) region would have become members of the Australian competition -- Gallop said that there was "no indication of any commercial return" from a project he said would be blocked by FIFA anyway. Central Coast Mariners Owner Mike Charlesworth had engaged English football consultant Jon Smith to "explore the prospect of Asian teams joining the A-League, holding discussions with the AFC and FIFA to seek their approval." But last week Gallop sent an email to Charlesworth "saying the proposal was effectively dead in the water." Gallop said, "When I first spoke to these guys [Charlesworth and Smith] about it, I said to them: 'You need to cross the Grand Canyon in a rocket ship. When it lands on the other side it needs to explode into cash to make this worth looking at.'" Gallop rejected the idea that FFA had "played along with the development of the concept, with FFA believed to have been asked to fund more research" for some A$200,000 ($152,500). Gallop: "We allowed it to be explored to a logical decision point. If we had not, we'd have been criticized for that as well" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 3/31). In Sydney, Michael Cockerill reported there were claims on an SBS website over the weekend that the proposal "had the backing of up to seven A-League clubs," but both Brisbane Chair Chris Fong and Perth Owner Tony Sage on Tuesday denied they were "in support." Sage said, "I am opposed to any Asian expansion until we have 12 successful teams here." Apart from the fact that an Asian-Australian league was "never likely to receive the statutory approval" of either the Asian Football Confederation or FIFA, Gallop listed "multiple reasons" why the proposal was flawed. Gallop: "It would have put us on a collision course with ASEAN's own plans to form a league, it would have been in direct competition to the Asian Champions League, it would damage our local television relationship with no guarantee of ratings success, there are significant travel and logistical problems, and clearly it is not going to dedicate resources to the development of Australian players" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/31).

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