Ivan Slavich, a prominent figure in the ACT business community, says it is simply crazy that Australia’s capital city is not represented in the competition and efforts are underway to put that right.

He says everything will be done to bring about professional football in time for the 2010/11 season with the intention to play home games at Canberra Stadium.

Mr Slavich has been in contact with FFA officials and a formal proposal will be heading for Ben Buckley's desk.

Any successful franchise is likely to need an initial $5million dollars behind it with a similar sum required for the first few years of the club’s existence.

In just two weeks since picking up the A-League franchise ball, Slavich already has an investor and firms offering to provide both accounting and legal services.

He told au.fourfourtwo.com: “I am pretty prominent in the business community and I intend to galvanise support from that community. I tend not to fail.

“To have the prospect of 12 A-League clubs in place and not one from Canberra is just crazy. I was outraged when it was revealed that none of the recent expressions of interest to the FFA were from Canberra.

“We have the capital of New Zealand represented, with Wellington, but not Australia.

“There is a great deal of support out there for football in Canberra, from those who play the game or want a team of their own to support."

Capital Football has already acknowledged the process and posted a link to the bid’s website on its home page, while an online poll has been established to try and gauge support for a team.

Football blogger and community radio host Eamonn Flanagan has met with Slavic and is excited by his vision.

The meeting followed Flanagan and local football club owner Anthony Hatton’s decision to set up the online poll.

Flanagan said: “As I speak we’ve already had 800 people sign up to pledge their support. That’s just in a few days. Over 80 per cent said they would consider investing in a team.

He said: “It is a no brainer to be honest. There is a massive player base in Canberra. Why wouldn’t people support the game that they love?

“It was bedlam here during the World Cup and as well as the support for football you have to look at the importance a team could bring to Canberra as a whole.

“Football in Australia is reaching out to Asia and I’m sure business in Canberra can recognise that and see the potential benefits from establishing those connections.

“There are social, economic and cultural reasons for making this happen," he added.

“I think it is vital that the capital city of Australia is represented in the national football competition.”

The FFA will not only require financial proof that a team can be put together –there is no name in the pipeline at this point – but also a sense of strong community backing.

Slavic added: “People can show their support via the website but we have an opportunity on Saturday for Canberra to show it supports its football when the Central Coast Mariners play the Newcastle Jets at Canberra Stadium.”

More information about the bid can be found at http://ateam4canberra.wordpress.com