Wait on for shortlist

Consultant seeks details from A-League hopefuls

FOOTBALL Federation Australia has further delayed announcing its A-League expansion shortlist until at least next week as further information is sought from bids.

The governing body was due to release a shortlist earlier this week comprising the strongest half a dozen or so bids from the 15 formal expressions of interest submitted last month.

But that was pushed back after Deloitte, the consulting company examining the bids and advising FFA, sought additional information from a number of the groups.

It is believed to include financial details around their funding models. An FFA spokeswoman said the announcement would not happen this week.

“The process is under the guidance of Deloitte and continues to be thoroughly implemented,” the spokeswoman said.

“No issues but (the shortlist) will be several days more.”

FFA is set to make a final decision on two new teams by the end of October before their introduction in the 2019-20 season.

It would take the total number of clubs to 12, as the competition gradually builds towards 16 teams.

Despite calls to beef the league up to 14 franchises straight away, it is understood there are no plans to expand past the 12 initially planned for in this round of expansion.

It is still unclear what FFA plans to charge for a licence, a factor that could impact groups which have less substantial financial backing.

Metropolitan bids from Sydney and Melbourne appear to be among the frontrunners, with the Lang Walker-backed United for Macarthur and southeastern Melbourne’s Team 11 generating the most steam.

The tense wait has also ignited an ugly turf war as Sydney FC and hopeful Southern Expansion continue to fire potshots at each other.