THE ARRIVAL of Iraqi winger Ali Abbas at Newcastle Jets has proved a good one for the club, but it’s also had me considering an idea proposed by the PFA* last month – is it time the FFA* introduced the ‘Asian Marquee’ (AM)?

Long have commentators wiser than I promoted the potential of Asian players in the A-League, and given we are now seeing increasing numbers of Australian players leaving the land down under for the lucrative petro dollars of Arabia and cashed up clubs in China, Korea and Japan, isn't it time we fight back?

Of course, as good as Abbas seems to be, it isn't he who this idea would target. Specifically, it should aim at the upper echelon of Asian players and Asian greats who could help raise the profile of the A-League through the AFC*, and indeed the World.

Let's not sell ourselves short, Australia has plenty to offer players of particular Asian persuasions - sun, sand, and many of their countrymen with whom to socialise.

And, with the ability to purchase a player outside the salary cap, throwing a cool mill or so at an off contract player the likes of Shinji Ono (Japanese/currently with VfL Bochum), Ali Karimi (Iranian/currently with Steel Azin) or Ahn Jung-Hwan (Korean/currently with Dalian Shide) suddenly becomes a whole lot more possible.

Of course, the concept also allows for further current or fringe Socceroos to be targeted, given they're Asian players now too.

Scott Chipperfield will likely be heading home after the 2010 World Cup, but there's no feasible way under the current structure clubs already with a marquee could offer the kind of cash he'd be looking for without sacrificing optimum squad capacity. AM solves this.   

The design of the AM should reward clubs willing to spend. A Newcastle Jets, for instance, with a marquee man in Fabio Vignaroli, may also choose to nab Lé Cong Vinh (Vietnamese/currently with Leixões).

In this way, they'd have two top shelf players and a great deal of green left free to add class to their squad. I've promoted Cong Vinh and what he could bring to the A-League before, and what's happened since I last blogged about this bloke justifies my reckoning. He's since moved to Portugal, and every single match his club plays is now being beamed LIVE around the expanding ASEAN* nation. We may have missed this boat, but lets catch another!

Specifically, AM enhances the opportunity for the league to as a whole to grow in standard. By exploring and luring some of the many class players Asia has to offer, we'd be pushing our door that little more open to the bullish Asian market.

There are already many opponents to the idea, with the main criticism being the long term financial stability of A-League clubs. How I see it is - can we afford not to add the AM, not can we?

*PFA: Professional Football Association

*FFA: Football Federation Australia

*AFC: Asian Football Confederation

*ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations