Soccer: No advance on either side in Boutsianis tug of war

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The Football Kingz are no closer to settling their differences with Socceroo midfielder Con Boutsianis.

After falling out with the club, Boutsianis has had discussions with Professional Football Association chief executive Brendan Schwab.

"I can't comment on the matter," Schwab said.

Kingz chief executive Chris Turner said yesterday: "Not a lot has changed."

He did reaffirm, however, that the Kingz are not going to release Boutsianis.

Across the Tasman, alarm bells are also ringing at PFA headquarters over concerns that the Canberra Cosmos are in danger of sinking before the National League kicks off.

Canberra and Brisbane were dropped when Soccer Australia reduced the number of teams from 14 to 12 this year.

Both were reinstated on appeal.

But when Canberra's $A44,000 ($53,400) entry cheque bounced on Wednesday, they were back in the spotlight.

"We are very worried and deeply disappointed," Schwab said. "The PFA was assured in June that Canberra could meet the guarantees.

"On that basis, players signed contracts with the club. It is the ninth time since 1996-97 that a club has fallen over or faced some form of insolvency."

The club has until 7 pm on Monday to assure Soccer Australia it will meet its commitments and come up with an indemnity agreement.

With no plans to replace Canberra, one possibility is to instigate a three-round league.

The Kingz are due to play Canberra in round seven at North Harbour Stadium.

In a surprise move, Sydney Olympic - now Olympic Sharks - have dumped their three-term coach, Branko Culina, and replaced him with Gary Phillips, who played for Olympic in 1982-1983.