Football Federation Australia have refused to bend the A-League salary cap rules for Brisbane who were hoping for special consideration in a bid to hold on to star striker Besart Berisha.
Off-contract at the end of the season, Berisha has already attracted marquee interest from rival clubs Sydney FC and Newcastle, while there is also talk the 28-year-old Albanian international could be headed back to Europe with Italian club Inter Milan rumoured to be circling.
All A-League clubs are allowed two marquee spots to be paid outside the salary cap.
But unable to pay Berisha outside the $2.55 million 2014-15 cap with both those spots filled by German star Thomas Broich as a foreign marquee and Matt McKay as the Australian marquee, the Roar have sought FFA assistance to offer the Albanian attacker a substantial salary increase.
But A-League boss Damien de Bohun has shot down any possibility the FFA would be willing to help.
“The integrity of the salary cap is a fundamental pillar of the A-League’s centralised model and the long term sustainability of the competition and hence is not something FFA will compromise,” de Bohun said in a statement on Friday.
“The salary cap currently has provisions for all clubs to help grow the competition in what is a competitive global environment through marquee players and exemptions and that has been extremely successful in the development and promotion of the A-League
“Brisbane Roar is currently utilising the two marquee spots, as are other clubs, and we applaud their use of the marquee concept but we will not allow any club to operate outside the parameters of the salary cap.”
Berisha is one of the league’s most potent attackers and is the Roar’s top goal-scorer this season with six.
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Guest
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more about this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but generally folks don't speak about such topics. To the next! Kind regards!!
IanW
Guest
Speaking theoretically ... Club A has Good Kid X and Old Star Y. Club B wants Good Kid X, and doesnt care about Old Star Y. If club B bought them both for $Z, and then lent Old Star Y back to club A for nothing then that would indeed rort the cap. The solution would, of course, for the SLeague to make a ruling that said 'Nice work, like it, Old Star Y still counts $A under the cap'.
Titus
Guest
If Brisbane want to go after a world class marquee, to market the game and bring crowds to Brisbane, then I am more than happy for the FFA to chip in, but just expecting a rule change to accommodate a player who is efficient, then...no.
Stevo
Guest
Then a temporary measure for Roar as well thankyou. Looks like FFA can bend what ever rules it wants to suit Sydney teams pretty easily. And how many HAL sides are going to argue against FFA HQ when HQ control the competition and revenue flows from media deals? None. Look how far MV got when Ange was poached without compensation.
Spillsy is Sky Blue
Guest
I thought it was going to be that Inter would sign Berisha and loan him back to Brisbane, dodging some aspect of the salary cap
Matt F
Roar Guru
What was the 500k for? If it was to help pay for marquee players then I don't mind the idea as long as the marquee has the profile. ADP's arrival was a coup for the league as a whole, not just SFC and all clubs would have received extra revenue when they hosted SFC in season 1. I don't see anywhere where it says that other clubs wouldn't get some assistance if they asked, and the marquee was of a high profile. Berisha isn't a marquee though and the Roar aren't trying to make him one so it is irrelevant. Sydney's cap (marquee's and guests excluded) is the exact same as every other club. As for WSW, it's a temporary measure designed to ensure that they were competitive in their first season. Obviously not many expected them to do as well as they did. All clubs agreed to the extra spots as well. Presumably if they saw it as such an unfair advantage then they would have complained when given the opportunity. They didn't.
Stevo
Guest
An early April Fools joke surely?????
Stevo
Guest
Just drawing attention to these points made by Roy. "OK, but what about the FFA's $500,000 generosity to Sydney FC?" and "The FFA assisted the Western Sydney Wanderers by allowing them seven overseas players, two more than the regulation five." The issue is the flexibility of FFA rules as applied to different clubs.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I don't know why as the two situations aren't comparable at all. Marquee's and guest players don't count towards the cap. Regular squad players do. Unless the Roar sign Berisha as a marquee or guest player, his wages should go in the cap
Patrick Hargreaves
Roar Guru
Was the inter milan part serious?
Squizz
Guest
Just like the Mariners should feel let down that the FFA wouldn't facilitate the Bakrie investment in the Mariners but instead steered them towards the Roar - gallingly agreeing to the deal at a Mariners pre-season match at Knox Grammar School.
Stevo
Guest
If Roy Master's article is truthful then the Roar are entitled to feel let down by the Sydney-centric FFA. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/flexible-cap-is-a-lesson-in-global-soccernomics-20130301-2fbjo.html
Titus
Guest
Niell was a guest player, all teams can use two marquees and a 10 game guest player outside the cap.
vinnie
Guest
you bent the rules for Sydney FC so many times, they had del piero emerton and lucas neil all at the same time how many marquees can you put in a side without bending the rules, only sydney fc can somehow do it
Roarsome
Guest
Sell him in Jan, we don't want another Nichols incident where we farm players out locally to have other clubs on sell overseas and gain a transfer fee.
Ian
Guest
As a Roar fan I thought the end result of this request was always going to be 'No'. The rules are there for everyone. If Berisha isn't re signed by 30 Jan, then he goes elsewhere, there'd be no transfer fee. Two weeks left to get it done. Hope he stays another year but perhaps missing family may be too much. Heaven forbid he went to an A-League club, which won't happen. But if he did, Perth would be a good option.....they aren't holding any grudges or bitter, as shown by last night again.
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
Agreed Ben. No point in having a cap if clubs can't follow it. Perhaps they should have asked themselves who they want more: Berisha or Broich? IMO id go with Broich but only slightly.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
It is a pity for the Roar however this is all part of the balancing act that each club needs to perform.
nordster
Guest
So if there are all these exemptions to the cap it really fails to meet its equalisation goal. The league is distorted by the labour regs but its not being equalised especially effectively. Once again we have red tape for its own sake. Or for the sake of the technocrats who get to feather their own roles rather than letting the sport operate on more open, competition based terms. A deregulated Aleague with competition for places via promotion and relegation one day is the worst nightmare of those who *run* sport in Australia. Ultimately because it is counter to the idea of being able to control sport in the first place.... May i suggest football regulation as a candidate for National Repeal Day in March? :)