A little over 12 months ago, the battle over naming rights for Docklands Stadium drew several months of back-page coverage as the AFL refused to acknowledge Etihad as the new sponsor.

Those who attend Melbourne Victory's Champions League match against Kawasaki Frontale tonight will not be watching from Etihad Stadium. All mention of the Abu Dhabi based airline which is a competitor to major AFC sponsor Emirates has been blacked out, literally.

Every sign in the place, no matter how small, features a piece of gaffer tape over the word Etihad. Whether they are in public areas or on internal roadways accessible only by staff, the sponsors' name has been taped over.

Even the Panasonic signs which adorn the bottom of the giant TVs will be covered as Melbourne are required to present a completely ad-free stadium for the sake of a match which will probably be watched by less than 10,000 at the ground.

The only thing it seems that won't get the gaffer treatment will be the Coventry and Lockett signs which designate the ends of the ground. And that's probably only because the AFC doesn't know who Lockett and Coventry are.

Melbourne Victory have been firmly caught in the middle of this corporate censorship game and as a result have decided not to use any reference to the venue in their promotion of the game.

Even the match tickets do not refer to any venue. It is just assumed that the fans will know where it will be played.

While that may give the club an excuse for any low crowd who will turn up on Wednesday, Victory have bigger things to worry about.

It has been told by stadium management that any reference to the stadium as 'Docklands' will constitute a breach of the agreement and may have legal ramifications. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Victory have just decided not to refer to the venue at all.

Things reached farcical proportions yesterday morning, when the Melbourne team was not allowed on the park as some advertising was still visible on the side of the pitch.

In the end, the media were not granted entry until all the advertising was covered up.

Melbourne have every reasonto take the AFC seriously. They are currently facing a disciplinary hearing over signage at their first match against Seongnam Ilhwa. They plan to use the defence that the stadium was the worse for wear after the freak storm all but ruined much of the corporate entertaining areas two days before the match.

They were already forced to seek a special shirt sponsor for the tournament with Intralot ruled ineligible by the AFC because it was a gaming company.

The AFC has a 'my way or the highway' approach to its regulations surrounding the ACL (even demanding media call it the AFC Champions League, not the Asian Champions League) and with thanks to its judicious use of tape and legal threats has achieved what the AFL never managed.