The FFA need to find a way out of the five year licence handed to Wellington Phoenix, and they need to do it fast. Phoenix have become a toxic asset for the FFA, and we are already seeing Australian clubs suffer as a result.

The AFC on Tuesday held the fourth meeting of the ‘Ad-hoc Committee for Professional Clubs', and this is what they had to say about our friends across the ditch.

Renewal of Wellington Phoenix FC's license in the Hyundai A-League was approved by FIFA until 2016. AFC acknowledged the extension of Wellington Phoenix FC's license and its participation in Australia Competitions. As FIFA/AFC/OFC agreement, clubs from Australia will be dealt with like it is now.

Only Australian clubs can participate in ACL and highest placed eligible clubs will take ACL spots reserved for clubs from A-League in case Wellington Phoenix FC wins the first, second position in the A-League, or wins the cup tournament.

At first glance, this is not anything that we didn't know already. Having a closer look, it's seems that the AFC is losing patience with the FFA propping up a footballing nation from outside the Asian confederation. The wording "AFC acknowledged the extension" screams of "We don't like the idea, but we can't do anything about it on a federational level".

With the announcement that NZF are now funding a Phoenix reserves side, nobody can reasonably say any longer that Wellington is an Australian club based in New Zealand.

I'm sure the AFC are even less happy with Australia fostering a professional and competitive environment for several players that were part of the All Whites squad that disposed of West Asia's final chance of having a representative at the 2010 World Cup in Africa.

It's well documented that FIFA have said that the AFC cannot and does not have any say in whether Wellington Phoenix remains a part of the A-League, but that doesn't mean that the AFC is not able to use its power to undermine A-League clubs and Australian football in other ways.

The easiest way to restrict temporary growth within the A-League is to restrict the qualification route for the highest level of club competition in Asia, the Asian Champions League.

Of all the ‘Big 4' AFC East nations currently eligible for the Asian Champions League (namely China, Japan, Korea and Australia), only Australia has its club quota rounded down. All other nations have their quotas, which are calculated by the Ad-Hoc committee on a fairly subjective 500 point scale factoring Organisation, Technical Standard, Attendance, Governance, Marketing, Business Scale, Game Operation, Media, Stadia & Clubs.

Before anyone starts jumping and screaming about the A-League being a smaller league with no promotion and relegation... let me stop you there. None of that stuff really matters - The K-League doesn't have promotion/relegation either. ACL quotas work on the following 3 factors.

  • 4 club slots for nations that rank higher than 300 points
  • 1 club slot for nations that rank lower than 300 points
  • 1/3 of clubs in the league is the maximum slots allowable

So let's do the maths.

Last A-League season (2009/10) Australia was awarded 343 points in the Pro-League assessment charts and had ACL 9 eligible clubs once you factor out Wellington. At this stage, you'd probably have to ask why Gold Coast United did not qualify for the Champions League as Australia's third representative, or even a chance to play-off against the other clubs from .5 nations that all rank lower than Australia in the Pro-League assessments.

Even the United Arab Emirates, whose league holds 12 clubs and was barely 12 points higher than Australia has 3 automatic and 1 play-off qualification slots.

I wonder what other conclusion people could be making other than the AFC punishing Australian clubs for the inclusion of Wellington Phoenix. Especially Gold Coast United and its fans who could do with a bit of positive spin away from the fat controller Mr Palmer and the signing of Glen Moss.

With the addition of Melbourne Heart to the A-League's ranks this season and West Sydney next season taking our eligible tally to 11, it's essential that the FFA has an exit strategy in place to remove itself from New Zealand and have a true Australian League by providing the 12th A-League licence to Canberra.

Only then will we progress as a national league and a real power broker within the AFC.