MAYBE the FFA is right to pretend that their financial bailout of Brisbane Roar (and - perhaps by the time this is published - Adelaide United) is just standard operating procedure.

After all, it's important that fans, investors, players and even club officials have a sense of continuity. Who's going to buy a life membership, or sign a three year contract, if they think a club is about to disappear?

Clearly, as custodians of the game in Australia, the FFA has a responsibility to encourage public confidence in the A-League's fiscal position. But that doesn't mean the media - or the public - has to buy it.

Personally, I think the last-minute decision to swap the Gold Coast's opening game from Skilled Park to Suncorp Stadium reeked of panic.

The FFA was originally happy to award the opening derby to the Gold Coast, and willingly sent the club a first draft of the draw. Surely they were delighted to see Miron Bleiberg talking up the debut home game, fueling expectations in the local media, and promoting early membership sales.

There must have been a lot of furious number-crunching at FFA HQ before the new A-League schedule was announced last Monday. Yet Buckley insisted that the decision to shift the Gold Coast's opening game to Suncorp had nothing to do with Roar's finances:

"That's not the rationale of the decision at all, it's been made completely independently of what may occur with our (FFA's) position within Queensland Roar," he said.

"As I said it's about maximising our attendances it's about putting a hotly anticipated match in a world-class venue."

Oh, really? "Maximising our attendances" means generating cash, doesn't it? Otherwise why not halve the price of tickets?

And there's nothing wrong with Skilled Park as a venue, is there? Buckley himself has talked about what a great stadium it is. A packed house of 27,000 fans would be nothing to sneeze at.

But Buckley says he wants 50,000 fans at Suncorp. Why? If we are to believe that the Brisvegans and/or the FFA are not urgently in need of some cash, then what's the rationale? Is the FFA just being greedy? If so, it's pretty short-sighted greed.

Forget about irritating Clive Palmer and Miron Bleiberg, they've got thick skins and they'll get over it. But what about disenfranchising potential new fans on the Gold Coast?

And who says Brisbane will get 50,000 fans anyway? They could only manage 30,000 for a Socceroos match.

Oh, and by the way, there's a rugby game at Suncorp just 24 hours before the Roar v. United game, so the pitch will (again) be a mess. Does Buckley really want 50,000 fans watching Craig Moore and Jason Culina take air swings?

For me, there's only one sensible explanation of this fiasco. The FFA is panicked and looking for some quick cash to prop up Roar. Bugger how the Gold Coast feels about it.

But that's just my opinion. And I won't be holding my breath waiting for Ben Buckley to confirm it.