A-League club owners will "now have more certainty regarding their investment in the game after Football Federation Australia agreed to extend the length of the nine club licences" until '34, according to Ray Gatt of THE AUSTRALIAN. The FFA made the decision after "prolonged consultation with the owners that had stretched over 12 months." The current licenses of the clubs had an existing term running until '20. FFA CEO David Gallop said that the license extension would "provide the clubs with long-term certainty for their planning and investment." Gallop: "FFA and the clubs have made the stability and sustainability of the A-League the top priority" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/17). In Sydney, Michael Lynch reported "FFA will also cut the foreign player limit from five players to four within two years, and is considering making one of the four visa spots exclusively available to an Asian player." A-League Western Sydney Wanderers Japanese footballer Shinji Ono is the "only significant Asian player to have played in the league in its nine year history." The one club "left out of the equation is Wellington Phoenix," whose license expires in '16. For Wellington to "continue in the A-League it will need the go-ahead from FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and the FFA" (SMH, 2/18). The AAP's Angela Habashy reported the FFA also "reaffirmed that no final decision has been made in regards to the sale of the Western Sydney Wanderers and that discussions are continuing with prospective buyers" (AAP, 2/17).
