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The global financial crisis won’t stand in the way of the A-League’s expansion plans with Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy confident of a 12-team competition by the 2010-2011 season.
Speaking after the FFA’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Lowy said expansion plans were full steam ahead despite the financial worries across the globe.
“If anything, it has accelerated the need for expansion,” Lowy said, adding that FFA’s fixed broadcasting and sponsorship agreements meant the sport could ride out the storm.
The A-League will expand to 10 teams next season with the addition of Gold Coast and North Queensland and Lowy all but confirmed the jump to 12 teams would happen almost immediately.
“Certainly I would hope the following year (2010-2011) we’ll have 12 teams,” Lowy said.
“I think at that time we need to reassess our capacity, our future.”
Second teams in Melbourne and Sydney are favoured to join the following year but there is also strong interest from consortiums in Tasmania and the NSW South Coast.
Lowy said he was confident Melbourne and Sydney could now support two teams but hinted teams from other regions could be included in the future even if they weren’t successful in the 2010-11 bid.
“I think beyond the 12 teams we should look places like Tasmania or some other places, there are moves in those areas,” Lowy said.
The expanded league will see the number of rounds increased from 21 to 27 next season, handing FFA a tough scheduling challenge to avoid too much competition with Australia’s rival football codes.
FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said options were discussed at Tuesday’s AGM but the federation was as yet undecided on which way to go.
He said the preference was to not have to move the start or end of the season too much as it would overlap with the rugby league, rugby union and AFL seasons.
But he hinted there could be midweek A-League games on a regular basis, similar to some overseas leagues such as the English Premier League.
“There’s certainly some positives about having midweek football,” Buckley said.
“We think there’s an opportunity for it, we haven’t determined that’s the direction we’ll go but it’s certainly on the drawing board.
“I think television would welcome it – if you look at any TV sports schedule during the course of the week, there’s not a lot of genuine competition during the summer months.”
Lowy reiterated his greatest desire was to see Australia host the 2018 World Cup, saying his ultimate fantasy would be to see the Socceroos play in the final of the tournament.
“To get the World Cup here is a mammoth task and if we are successful it means that we have been recognised internationally that Australia is a place to be,” Lowy said.
“That will be a very, very big achievement but we’re being considered and I think we are being considered as a very strong candidate by the authorities that be.”
The FFA also announced a modest operating surplus for the financial year of almost $1 million in its fifth year of operation.
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