Rebel clubs continue to abandon the application process, saying the model adopted by Football Federation Victoria is financially risky and will send many to the wall.

Just this week, a core group who met with a FFA representative to discuss their plight described the briefing as “encouraging”.

But in a statement issued on Friday, FFA boss David Gallop said he was satisfied the Victorian model followed the principles of the National Competition Review.

“Each state and territory member federation has the opportunity to shape the NPL criteria to fit their own circumstances," Gallop said.

“FFA encourages all parties to work for the good of the game in Victoria. In any change process, issues will arise, but as we've seen in other states these matters can be best resolved without the intervention of FFA."

A club alliance has issued an ultimatum to FFV to abandon the process by Wednesday or face legal action.

South Melbourne, one of the state’s most powerful football clubs, will apply for a court injunction if the roll-out continues.

Victoria is scheduled to join the national second tier league next year, but the alliance estimates that only four clubs and several consortiums remain in the race for an NPL spot.

FFV shows no signing of blinking, however, and announced the panel to assess applications to join the league – including members with ties to FFA.

“Unfortunately there have been recent media reports that suggest a boycott of the NPL including from some clubs that did not even put in an expression of interest," FFV CEO Mitchell Murphy said.

“Despite these rumours, FFA and FFV are totally committed to Victoria’s NPL competition and I can categorically state that FFV will implement it in 2014.

“Currently we are working with many applicants including some on the so called ‘boycott list’ and I am more than confident that we will have a strong competition next year.

The NPL assessment panel will be led by a director of Football Queensland - and former Brisbane Roar CEO - Eugenie Buckley. 

Other panel members are Professor David Shilbury (School of Management and Marketing Deakin University), Ben Mannion (Chief Operating Officer Football Queensland), Robert Sherman (Head of Coach Education, FFA) and Mitchell Murphy.

NPL applications close 5pm Friday 16 August. Clubs opposed to the roll-out plan to meet 10 days later to negotiate their own NPL model.