Nix frustration ‘wasn’t helpful’
The Wellington Phoenix might not receive approval to travel to Australia until today and their decision to air their frustration in public has earned a rebuke from the official in charge of the A-League.
Phoenix general manager David Dome revealed on Monday that the club wasn’t happy with the lack of progress around the approvals it needs to travel to Sydney ahead of the resumption of the 2019-20 season next month.
Football Federation Australia head of leagues Greg O’Rourke said yesterday it wasn’t a helpful development, but it appeared to have done the Phoenix no harm.
‘‘It’s never helpful to go and have a shot at Government departments when you’re asking the Government department to approve the application . . . it wasn’t helpful, but it didn’t really create too much drama, and we’re just going to get on with the process. It really is a process-based application, not a political one.’’
The Phoenix had hoped on Monday that a decision on their travel would be made yesterday, but O’Rourke suggested it could now take until today for them to get the green light. ‘‘We’re still waiting for a couple of Government departments to give their approval,’’ he said.
The FFA confirmed yesterday that the A-League will resume on July 16 with a clash between Melbourne Victory and Western United and the Phoenix are set to be in action the following night against Sydney FC.
Dome told on Monday it would take 48 hours after receiving approval for the Phoenix to arrange to travel across the Tasman and another 48 hours after that for them to be tested for Covid19 and cleared to start training. He said he was concerned the Phoenix’s wait to find out when they could travel to Australia would leave them at a disadvantage, unable to train properly until Sunday at the earliest while their A-League rivals got up and going earlier in the week.
O’Rourke said yesterday that many teams were dealing with less-than-ideal circumstances, pointing, as an example, to the Newcastle Jets, whose head coach Carl Robinson is set to be in hotel quarantine and uninvolved in training for two weeks upon returning from North America.
The Phoenix squad is currently split between four countries, with
16 players and most of the staff in Wellington, six players and one coach in Australia, and star imports Ulises Da` vila (Mexico) and Gary Hooper (United Kingdom) further afield.
They have six matches to play before the final series, which is expected to culminate in a grand final on August 22 or 23.
O’Rourke said yesterday that discussions between FFA and Fox Sports over the A-League broadcast deal were ‘‘progressing very well’’ and that there was ‘‘good dialogue’’ between the two parties.