Canberra bid leader Ivan Slavich and his team believe it is baffling to have a national competition without the country's capital represented and they are confident the support is out there in the ACT.

A big test for the bid is likely to be next month's Asian Cup qualifier in Canberra between the Socceroos and Kuwait. A big turnout will send a strong message to the FFA while a poor turnout could be seriously damaging.

The A-League4Canberra bid continued its regional meetings  with members of the bid team travelling south to Cooma to officially receive the handover of over 1,000 pledges of support.
 
Attending the Cooma Summer Sixes competition at Nijong Oval on Thursday evening the A-League4Canberra team met with an enthusiastic response from the locals.
 
Canberra A-League Project Manager, Eamonn Flanagan, said: "We had a fantastic welcome from the Cooma community. Cooma has a proud sporting history and the Canberra A-League bid committee were delighted with the 1,000 pledges handed over from Cooma and the surrounding region.

 "The numbers of people heading from Jindabyne, Perisher and Cooma for the Socceroos fixture (Australia play Kuwait in an Asian Cup Qualifier in Canberra in March) is indicative of the passion for sport in the region."

Cooma FC President Nick Tonini is a passionate advocate for an A-League team. "We don't have a national team for our youngsters to aim at," he said. "It's important for the South East region to have this representation as the sport continues to grow. A team in the national competition would only help that."
 
The promotion of the A-League4Canberra bid in the regional community continues on Sunday February 22 when representatives from the bid team travel to Goulburn for the Goulburn Soccer Club Gala Day.

There is still a long way to go before Canberra gets the nod but FFA CEO Ben Buckley told the Canberra Times: "'Some elements of the business case still need to be tested and proven, but they've certainly made us sit up and take notice that there's a credible proposal from Canberra.

''We need to be convinced that there will be regular, ongoing support for an A-League team and that has to be at a certain level to sustain it financially."