"Football Federation Australia's announcement to introduce a '4+1' foreign quota will reap long term benefits for the A-League and Australia's position within Asia.
All good things come to those who wait, or so we are told, and finally after years of waiting the A-League will introduce the plus one rule and fall into line with every other Asian league.
FFA announced the move today, with CEO David Gallop declaring: “The 4-plus-1 structure will strengthen the A-League by further integrating Australian football into the Asian community.”
The World Game has seen a paper that was presented to FFA early last year, outlining the numerous commercial and social benefits that would flow should the plus one rule be introduced, largely on the back of the groundwork done for the AFC Asian Cup, which hard to believe was two years ago.
That tournament opened up enormous opportunities, with Asian-Australian communities engaged like never before and the benefits were there for all to see.
Who could forget the sights and sounds from a heaving AAMI Park as Iranian fans from all over Australia, who made up the majority of the 17,712 in attendance, descended on the Victorian capital to cheer on their team against Bahrain?
And no one will ever forget Canberra Stadium being turned into a mini Azadi Stadium for the quarter-final between Iran and Iraq.
Imagine the possibilities should an A-League club sign one of Iran’s national team stars like Masoud Shojaei, Andranik Teymourian or Ashkan Dejagah?
That little has been done to keep the Asian-Australian communities engaged post-Asian Cup is a sad indictment. While some clubs do some good community work, the best way to engage these communities is to give them a hero to attach to and work from there.
The introduction of the plus one rule across Asia over the last decade has provided enormous benefit to Australian players, with new career opportunities opening up right across the continent from Indonesia to India, while it has also promoted greater movement of Asian players around the continent.
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/blog/...-and-australia
All good things come to those who wait, or so we are told, and finally after years of waiting the A-League will introduce the plus one rule and fall into line with every other Asian league.
FFA announced the move today, with CEO David Gallop declaring: “The 4-plus-1 structure will strengthen the A-League by further integrating Australian football into the Asian community.”
The World Game has seen a paper that was presented to FFA early last year, outlining the numerous commercial and social benefits that would flow should the plus one rule be introduced, largely on the back of the groundwork done for the AFC Asian Cup, which hard to believe was two years ago.
That tournament opened up enormous opportunities, with Asian-Australian communities engaged like never before and the benefits were there for all to see.
Who could forget the sights and sounds from a heaving AAMI Park as Iranian fans from all over Australia, who made up the majority of the 17,712 in attendance, descended on the Victorian capital to cheer on their team against Bahrain?
And no one will ever forget Canberra Stadium being turned into a mini Azadi Stadium for the quarter-final between Iran and Iraq.
Imagine the possibilities should an A-League club sign one of Iran’s national team stars like Masoud Shojaei, Andranik Teymourian or Ashkan Dejagah?
That little has been done to keep the Asian-Australian communities engaged post-Asian Cup is a sad indictment. While some clubs do some good community work, the best way to engage these communities is to give them a hero to attach to and work from there.
The introduction of the plus one rule across Asia over the last decade has provided enormous benefit to Australian players, with new career opportunities opening up right across the continent from Indonesia to India, while it has also promoted greater movement of Asian players around the continent.
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/blog/...-and-australia
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