Football Victoria are incurring the wrath of clubs after charging them full registration fees for players that were pending, declined, cancelled or de-registered.
“A lot of these “players pending” registrations walked away because of COVID and now clubs are expected to pay their registration fees,” explains Gregorio. “This is unjust and unfair particularly when clubs have also been impacted with loss of revenue through sponsorship, functions and canteen and bar takings.
With regards to charging clubs for players deemed as ‘pending’, FV’s response was:
For players who were declined, cancelled or deregistered players, the response was:
“The difficulty in these categories is finding a consistent and equitable approach between those Clubs that have deregistered their players in Play Football, and those Clubs whose players have remained registered players. The simple reality is that the costs incurred for FV were primarily based on the planning of competitions that included those players who were later declined, cancelled or deregistered.”
The email also advised that players who don’t pay fees for 2020, will not be allowed to register for 2021. Essentially this means clubs will not be able to register these players if they don’t find a way to pay off 2020s bills.
FV have publicly justified their financial decisions by pointing out fixed costs they have incurred that need to be covered. The email stated the following:
“As with your experience with your own club, FV also incurs substantial costs in preparing for a season, even before a ball is kicked. These costs are set out in detail in the FV Refund Policy, however they include costs such as player insurance, FV staff costs for fixturing, competitions administration, team entry management, extensive council liaison, facilities planning and advocacy and club support ambassadors. We note as well the additional support required for our Regional areas. Our Fee Policy retains a modest amount of the player registration fee based on Cost apportionment principles. Please also note that these FV costs include insurance coverage for your players for 2020 should they injure themselves in training up until 31 December 2020.”
Related Articles

FFA insists grassroots costs aren't a problem despite Socceroos outrage

Storied community club creating chances in lockdown
