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A-League clubs, FFA await ACL clarity

3 minute read

Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory are preparing as if their Asian Champions League campaigns will resume, despite uncertainty over the competition.

After winning the A-League grand final, Sydney FC remain uncertain how long their off-season break will be before they have to begin preparations for the resumption of their Asian Champions League (ACL) campaign.

Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory are all in the group stages of the ACL, which was postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Asian Football Confederation had flagged having the group stage played in centralised hubs in October.

"We've discussed it already; it was supposed to be in (the) middle of October, they're looking at pushing it back to the middle of November now," Sydney coach Steve Corica said after Sunday's A-League grand final.

"We don't know, (we're not) exactly sure if it's going to go ahead or not at this stage.

"We're finding it hard to plan what we're going to do for the ACL, obviously how much holidays these boys need to have to come back before the ACL.

"At this stage we don't know when it is on so it is quite difficult to prepare for that but it's in the back of my mind of course.

"We'd love to play in that ACL; whether it's going to be in one venue, or not, we're not 100 per cent sure yet."

FFA chief executive James Johnson said the three A-League clubs were preparing as if the tournament would go ahead, despite the lingering uncertainty.

"There's still a few hurdles that the AFC are going to need to go through in order to to close out the ACL season," Johnson told AAP.

"So I think, at this stage, the clubs are preparing as it will go ahead.

"I think in the next number of weeks, possibly months, we'll get some more certainty around the calendar and also the location of the ACL."

Johnson said the FFA would work with the Australian government and the AFC to support the three A-League clubs if the competition proceeded.

"We're talking about international football, so football that stems beyond Australia, so we will be involved," he said.

"It is going to be very complex because it involves international travel.

"So we will certainly be supporting the clubs and the players with our own government but also with the AFC relations, given we're a member of the AFC."

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