De Silva, 20, signed a three-year deal with Central Coast Mariners earlier this month after he left Perth Glory following an 18-month loan spell with Roda JC in the Eredivisie.

But his contract details are mired in secrecy which could reveal he is at the centre of either an outlawed co-ownership or third party ownership agreement with Italian giants, Roma.

And until the controversy is cleared up, FFA can't register him with the Mariners for next season.

Two years ago De Silva was said to have signed a transfer deal with the Serie A side, but despite joining Roma for training at the International Champions Cup (ICC) in Melbourne in 2015, the deal apparently fell through.

Roma are said to have abandoned the move after they ran out of foreign player signing spots for their squad.

Perth Glory however insist they at no stage had been in talks with Roma over a bid for De Silva, never mind agreed on a transfer fee.

Instead, a hastily arranged loan to Dutch side Roda was put in place, with a staggering €1m fee paid to Glory for the deal.

Football insiders believe that fee was actually bankrolled by Roma via Roda to maintain their interest in the teenage prodigy.

After just 16 appearances with no goals for Roda in 18 months, De Silva was released from his Eredivisie loan deal in January and returned to Australia.

Although he was not re-registered by Glory for last season’s A-League squad, he was treated by club physios for months for an osteitis pubis injury while talks on his future continued.

Glory are understood to have been keen to keep the youngster in Perth for next season but De Silva’s family were eager for Danny to rejoin his former Young Socceroos coach Paul Okon at Central Coast Mariners.

As the season ended and De Silva’s Glory contract expired, De Silva should have been a free agent and able to join the Mariners directly.

But instead, permission had to be sought by the Mariners from Roma for the move – and now the FFA want to know why.

De Silva has never been on Roma’s books and has been a contracted Glory player since turning professional until his contract expired last month.

But the Mariners admitted to FourFourTwo: “De Silva is still connected to Roma, hence the reason we have negotiated with both Roma and Daniel De Silva. 

“The way he is connected to Roma is something that can’t be explained as it is protected by ‘Commercial in confidence’.”

There is now speculation Roma have tried to do a co-ownership contract with the Mariners over De Silva – where they share the player’s future with another club.

Co-ownership was once common in Italy - and saw Brazil star Adriano owned by both Inter and Parma – until it was banned from Serie A in 2015, although it is still reportedly used in South America.

Alternatively he may have privately entered into a side agreement with Roma giving them an option on him in the future…but that could be perilously close to a third-party ownership arrangement banned by FIFA.

When he was first linked with Roma, De Silva insisted his future would be with the club in Italy, but admitted: “It’s not completely finalised.

“It’s a little hard to say… I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say what’s going to happen yet…”

This month a Mariners spokesman added: “Daniel De Silva has signed a three year contract with the Mariners and isn’t on loan. 

“How his deal works with Roma and why we had to negotiate with Roma is Daniel (and his representatives) business that we cannot comment on.”

Now the FFA have stepped in to try to resolve the issue before it escalates further.

Under the current contract though, it is believed De Silva cannot be registered with the Mariners for the coming season.

The FFA are understood to be confident it can be fixed, but admit it is an ongoing issue.

A spokesman added: “FFA is currently working with Central Coast Mariners to register Daniel De Silva with the club for the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season."