Australia NewsPhoenix Turn To Asian Route |
EXCLUSIVE: Wellington Phoenix admit their O-League patience is exhausted and they will approach the FFA later this week to help them pursue Asian Champions League football.
A board meeting has been held to discuss a situation that sees the club in competition limbo.As an A-League club, a grand final win or premier's plate success triggers entry into the ACL and potentially the FIFA World Club Cup beyond that.
Phoenix are a unique case however because they are registered in an Asian league but are part of the Oceania Football Confederation.
Oceania's path to glory is through the O-League competition but Phoenix have not been cleared for that route.
The club has yet to receive clarification on the issue and the board feels enough is enough.
If FIFA won't give them the green light for the Oceania route, should they achieve domestic success this season, then they will push for the ACL.
Phoenix CEO Tony Pignata told au.fourfourtwo.com: "We've had enough. This has been dragging on for far too long.
"We've had a board meeting and if we don't hear anything by the end of this week then we will be asking the FFA to help us pursue the Asian Champions League route."
Pignata also revealed to au.fourfourtwo.com that he had spoken with New Zealand Olympic captain Ryan Nelson after the Blackburn Rovers man had made some public criticisms of Phoenix and the club's unwillingness to release players for Beijing.
"Ryan actually called me and we had a chat about a few things. I think we had to agree to disagree on certain things but it was a good chat, I wished him well for the new season with Blackburn and said I looked forward to him playing for New Zealand this year."
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