A-League season’s locked in for July

SOCCER’S stakeholders have come to an agreement that will allow the A-League season to restart in July.

Yesterday, the FFA, the ALeague clubs and the PFA confirmed they had ticked off plans to resume training in mid-June and games in a hub by mid-July, with a view to finishing the season by August.

It leaves broadcaster Fox Sports as the only major stakeholder yet to sign off on plans to complete the season.

“We are committed to delivering the completion of the season and have agreed a comprehensive plan with the clubs and PFA,” FFA chief executive James Johnson said.

“All parties have worked together extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure the professional game is ready to resume. We are now looking forward to the agreement of our broadcast partner, Fox Sports, to our fixture proposal and timings. That’s the final piece of the jigsaw and once we have it in place we can move forward quickly.”

Nine newspapers had reported Fox Sports won’t agree to broadcast the final rounds without significant cuts to the remaining three years of its contract with the league.

The league aims to complete the remainder of the season in 35 days, with A-League boss Greg O’Rourke flagging “football content seven days a week”. The league was suspended in March by the coronavirus pandemic with a handful of regular season rounds, plus finals, remaining.

Securing a deal promptly was crucial as half the ALeague players were due to come off contract after May 31 — which would have left them as unemployed free agents.

“The organisation is incredibly proud of the players’ commitment, leadership and contribution to preserving the integrity of the A-League during this challenge to Australian football,” PFA chief executive John Didulica said.