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The AFL has put the blame squarely on the FFA over a potential scheduling clash for the A-League grand final.
Two of Australia’s top sporting organisations are at odds over the revelation that Etihad Stadium will be unavailable for the A-League on May 17 if Melbourne Victory or Melbourne City make the grand final.
AAMI Park is available, but it has a much smaller capacity.
There is speculation that the FFA would prefer the grand final to be played at ANZ Stadium if either of the Sydney teams was also involved.
Victory currently lead the A-League ladder and are one of this season’s title favourites.
The AFL has priority booking rights for Etihad Stadium and the MCG.
The FFA was quoted on Wednesday saying it had alerted the AFL and Etihad Stadium last month that the A-League grand final would be on May 17, not the original date of May 10.
But the day before the release of next year’s AFL fixture, the league insisted it was not at fault.
The AFL said Etihad Stadium and the Victory contacted it in July and August and asked for Sunday, May 10 to be kept open.
The league said it duly scheduled only two Etihad Stadium games for the weekend of May 8-10.
But the AFL said the Victorian Government made contact on October 16, saying the A-League grand final would be on May 17.
It added the FFA made a formal request on October 21 to keep May 17 free.
AFL scheduling manager Simon Lethlean said the revised request came too late.
“Mr Lethlean said the AFL had advised the FFA last week it could not restructure its fixture at that late stage, as five matches had been confirmed in Victoria for that weekend,” the AFL statement added.
“The AFL was now in the process only of confirming match timeslots for each game with its broadcast partners and clubs.
“The AFL advised it could not alter the number of matches per round in Victoria at that late stage because the AFL had less flexibility around its 2015 fixture due to a later start to the season, caused by the Cricket World Cup, as well as the fact that all clubs now have only one bye through the season, compared to two byes through 2014.”
The AFL also said Etihad Stadium confirmed it had not made an updated request for an A-League grand final date change.
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