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A-League clubs have hit back at Football Federation Australia (FFA) for not consulting them about the submission process for the expansion of the A-League, saying their plan "lacks all legitimacy and will not be accepted."

FFA yesterday called for formal expressions of interest (EOI) from potential bidders, who have been asked to provide information about their strategy for a new club and to prove their financial bona fides.

The governing body aims to announce by the end of October which two new clubs - expected to be from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane - will be granted entry to the competition for the 2019/20 season.

However, Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA) Chairman, Greg Griffin said that FFA's opening of Expressions of Interest (EOI) for A-League expansion candidates was in "complete conflict" with ongoing governance reform negotiations being steered by world football governing body FIFA.

Griffin (pictured) wrote to FFA Chief Executive David Gallop advising “(this) process has been undertaken without any formal consultation of both the (clubs) and the PFA.

"Should you proceed to make the announcements that you seemingly intend to make soon, APFCA puts you on notice that it does not accept the legitimacy of the process, whatever that may have been, adopted by FFA Administration and the FFA Board to expand the A-League competition.

"Unless and until the corporate governance issues have been resolved any decision made by the FFA Board as to expansion lacks all legitimacy and will not be accepted by APFCA."

FFA's announcement did indicate that existing clubs, state federations and the players union will be given the chance to submit their views on expansion and how new teams would affect their operations.

However, Griffin said that was contrary to the agreement made by stakeholders last month to wait for news from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation as to how the ‘Congress Working Review Group’ would be structured.

Gallop advised “we have done a lot of work on the fundamentals behind successful expansion of the A-League and we are confident that we will receive some high-quality bids as part of this process.

Once it has received all EOIs, FFA intends to select a short-list of bidders and request from them a fully fledged proposal by the end of August.

The two new A-League clubs will then be announced by October.

29th March 2018 - FFA MOVES TO ADD TWO NEW CLUBS TO A-LEAGUE COMPETITION

7th March 2018 - EUROPEAN INVESTORS BUY A-LEAGUE’S ADELAIDE UNITED 

21st February 2018 - A-LEAGUE CLUBS WARN OF COMPETITION COLLAPSE 

19th February 2018 - FFA LOOKS FOR A-LEAGUE EXPANSION IN 2019/20 SEASON

6th February 2018 - FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDES $4 MILLION FOR FFA’S WOMENS WORLD CUP BID

9th July 2017 - ONGOING GOVERNANCE DISPUTE SEES FIFA THREATEN TO TAKE OVER RUNNING OF FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA 

23rd June 2017 - GLOBAL STADIUM AWARDS RECOGNISE A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL AS ‘EVENT OF THE YEAR’ 

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Published bi-monthly since 1997, the printed Australasian Leisure Management differs from this website in that it publishes longer, in-depth and analytical features covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues management.

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