Reds resigned for ACL play-off

Two months after being drawn to participate in the competition proper, the Reds are now facing the prospect of having to play the Black Pearls in a one-off match on Thursday night in Adelaide or Jayapura in Indonesian Papua.

A final decision on Persipura's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to play in the competition after being dumped by the newly-formed Indonesian Football Federation and the Asian Football Confederation will be announced late Friday and is expected to favour the Indonesian club.

Adelaide expressed disbelief and anger at the CAS “farce” that caught it completely by surprise but its protests seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

And the AFC is bound by its constitution to abide by any CAS ruling.

”It's looking like we might have to play next Thursday,” a club spokesman said.

”It's crazy but what can you do apart from shake your head.”

Last December Adelaide was drawn in Group E along with Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor, Japan's Gamba Osaka and the winner of a play-off between Korea Republic's Pohang Steelers and Thailand's Chonburi.

But if the Reds fail to beat Persipura, they will be thrown into the less glamorous, second-tier AFC Cup, where huge financial losses are anticipated.