FFA's Phoenix dilemma

Football Federation Australia has a delicate job on its hands to solve the Curious Case of Wellington Phoenix.

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There is a suspicion that our game’s governing body is not entirely sure what to do with the club from across the Tasman.

As with the seven other original A-League clubs, the Wellington organisation’s licence is up for renewal at the end of the season.

However, more so than the other clubs in the league except for Gold Coast and North Queensland, Wellington would dearly love to know if strong and persistent rumours that they might get the flick are true or just a case of scurrilous mischief-making.

This is the problem the Wellington franchise faces as it tries to consolidate on last season’s creditable sixth place in the A-League.

The FFA’s albeit understandable reluctance to let Phoenix know if they have a future in the A-League is having a detrimental effect on the New Zealanders’ morale.

The club from the Shaky Isles indeed must feel it is on uncertain ground and with two more teams coming into the A-League next season to bring the number of participants to 12, all Phoenix would like to know is if they are going to be one of the dozen in season six.

It is a subject that definitely will be raised when the league clubs’ chief executives get together at the FFA’s Sydney headquarters on August 26-27.

But that is only part of the equation.

Phoenix, who must be the only club in the world that plays not only in another country but also in another FIFA confederation, is a unique case that is fast turning into a hot potato for the FFA.

Several people have questioned the wisdom of having a foreign club take part in our national championship.

Wellington, who came into the league in season three to replace woeful New Zealand Knights, are not the league’s most appealing team in terms of television ratings and crowd figures.

And some critics have been pointing out that it is probably not in our interest to foster the growth of the game in a country that conceivably could be our rival for a place in the World Cup finals.

I am not entirely convinced that Phoenix should be playing in our league either, although in fairness they are doing their best to be more competitive and they certainly have done nothing wrong. But that is not the main issue.

Asian Football Federation president Mohamed Bin Hammam has publicly voiced his strong objection to a New Zealand club playing in Australia.

And with Australia seeking more spots in the lucrative AFC Champions League for our clubs than the present two, the FFA would appear to be keen to appease the suits in Kuala Lumpur. Not to mention those in Auckland who run Oceania football.

But FIFA is not against the concept, especially if Phoenix realise their ambition to technically become an Australian club based in New Zealand rather than a Kiwi team playing in Oz.

On the other hand, since Australia has officially entered the race to stage the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, Oceania will be expected to support Australia when the vote is taken in Zurich next year.

It would be interesting to see if Oceania’s Tahitian president Reynald Temarii, who is a member of the powerful FIFA's 23-member executive committee that decides who holds the World Cup, would still support Australia’s bid if Wellington are booted out of the A-League.

This is indeed a tough one for FFA chief executive Ben Buckley.

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