A "major fund" set aside for bringing high-profile players to the A-League "will be scrapped a year after it came into effect," with Football Federation Australia "set to drop its marquee fund" before the start of the season, according to Dominic Bossi of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. FFA announced the introduction of a A$1M marquee fund at the start of last season and contributed more than A$500,000 toward Melbourne City's signing of Tim Cahill. A A$3M ($2.4M) fund set aside by FFA to "assist clubs purchasing big-name stars is on the chopping block and is set to be redirected to the clubs, but only conditionally for marketing purposes." As part of the clubs' "ongoing pay dispute" with FFA, the governing body has "all but confirmed its intention to scrap the fund that was hoped to rejuvenate the enthusiasm of clubs signing marquees." A letter from a club chair said, "The inclusion of the A$300,000 marketing grant in the proposed 17/18 distribution is the result of the FFA administration extricating itself from the centralised marquee proposition that it sold in the broadcast deal, against the advice of the clubs and in the face of the obvious realities of the global transfer/player market." The A-League clubs are "set to begin legal proceedings against FFA in seven days" to gain access to the organization's financial books "after announcing their final refusal to accept their share of revenue" (SMH, 8/2).
