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Wellington Phoenix are an Oceaniac problem in Asian football

11th November, 2015
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Matt McKay, Brisbane's grizzled veteran. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)
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11th November, 2015
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Oceania was comfortable. Australia was the head of the family, often the host for when the rest of the clan dropped round for a get together. But then you left.

You joined a new family and left the old one behind. Everyone understood. It helped you get ahead – a more beautiful spouse, a bigger house, more career opportunities and more children for your kids to play with.

There are sure to be wistful looks back at the old haunts from time to time. It is pretty obvious that there are closer cultural, geographical, historical and other links between Australia and New Zealand than between Australia and anywhere else in Asia.

You all seem to talk the same, are really good at sports and are certainly in the same league when it comes to putting beetroot on burgers.

In football terms however, there is nothing any more. The recent issue between the A-League and Wellington Phoenix is obviously a painful one for the fans, players and plenty of others involved in the club and New Zealand football. Whether it is the right decision for the A-League and its future is another issue and one that those closer to the ground are better placed to answer.

Whether the end of the club in the league, if that is indeed what comes to pass, sounds the death knell for professional football in New Zealand, as has been claimed, is another matter for debate and again, only time will tell.

This subject though is not something that is the responsibility of the A-League or Football Federation Australia or anyone else. Australia left New Zealand behind when it left Oceania. It’s nice to maintain ties whenever and wherever possible but there is no obligation to do so. You’ve got a new family now.

It’s for New Zealand to sort out New Zealand’s problems.

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In football terms, Bahrain, Yemen and Mongolia are more the concern of Australia than New Zealand. Some may not agree or like it but this is the way it is – few things in life are free of downsides. Australia should be more involved in helping in Indonesia, a country currently suspended from FIFA and going through serious issues, than a country in a completely different confederation.

The Asian Football Confederation is not a fan of having an Oceania team in an Asian league and why should it be?

In 2009, New Zealand took the last spot at the 2010 World Cup ahead of Bahrain, thereby depriving Asia of a fifth representative in South Africa, helped by a number of players who played for a New Zealand club in one of the top Asian leagues. Care should be taken not to overstate this, but among some members it did not go down well.

It is no secret that there are still parts of the AFC that are lukewarm to the idea and the practice of Australia in Asia. Having a New Zealand team in the league offers easy ammunition, for those who seek it, that the Aussies still think of themselves as separate from Asia and feel happier when looking east across the Tasman.

Sooner or later then, it was always going to come to a head. That is not to say that the AFC top brass have been wearing out carpets in Kuala Lumpur – or in the west of the continent where the decisions are made these days – pacing up and down trying to find a way to get rid of the outsiders.

Of the priorities in the AFC, Wellington was not exactly top of the list but there was the assumption that the problem would have to be dealt with at some point. The general feeling when you talk to people is that there is no reason to drag the situation on for years. Best to deal with it quickly and move on.

The only way it can change is for the Kiwis to join the AFC, but that is unlikely. There is virtually zero support in Asia for this. Adding New Zealand means adding Oceania and that makes too big a confederation in more ways than one.

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Splitting the AFC in two is not something that is going to happen anytime soon – by design at least as the possibility that it could happen by accident or argument can never be completely ruled out. One high-ranking AFC official predicted recently that Asia will split at some point in the next decade.

All that, however, is another debate. If Australia really wants to help it could start lobbying within the AFC for a new member. What would be easier however is to just accept that when it comes to football, there is no special relationship between Australia and New Zealand any more.

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