Wellington Phoenix general manager David Dome chats with Jason Pine on where the A-League season is at.
Wellington Phoenix players and staff remain on full pay, but General Manager David Dome concedes that will become more difficult the longer they are off the field.
The A-League was suspended on March 24 due to Covid-19 with several other clubs standing their players down without pay as uncertainty continues around the future of the competition.
"When the league was put on hold we put all the players and staff on annual leave so we could continue to pay everybody at 100 percent for as long as possible," said Dome.
"We're coming to the end of that now and then we'll have to make some choices in May.
"We're extremely lucky that we have a very supportive ownership group that wants the club to continue. The owners and the chairman are doing a lot of work in the background to solidify the financial position. I feel we're in very good hands.
"We'll just have to see how in the next couple of weeks with regards to the central pay-out we get from the broadcast deal out of Australia and exactly what happens to that.
"It's very much day-by-day, but all the clubs are in the same position and we're just trying to manage the best we can."
Football Federation Australia today confirmed they intend to resume the season as soon as possible, but said a number of criteria need to be satisfied before that can happen.
These include assurances around player health, border restrictions being lifted and large gathering and social distancing protocols allowing players and support staff to gather for games.
FFA chief executive James Johnson said his organisation was talking with government health authorities about all of these elements.
"Our goal is to deliver live, professional football and complete the 2019/20 season," he said.
"We will resume as soon as possible, and the first stage would see the players return to training. We would then schedule matches.
"It is difficult to see that process beginning before the end of May, but we will work with all stakeholders to achieve the earliest possible resumption."
That estimate adds a further layer of complication with many A-League players – including eight from Wellington – coming off contract on May 31.
Phoenix players huddle. Photo / Photosport
Phoenix players who have yet to confirm their futures beyond the end of next month include imports Gary Hooper and Matti Steinmann, Australian defender Luke Devere and young Kiwi attacker Callum McCowatt.
"Every club is different on how they're going to approach that," said Dome.
"There is some guidance from FIFA on how they want to see players' contracts play out over this uncertain period.
"We've started to have those discussions internally and we'll have them again going into the end of April and into May with Uffie (head coach Ufuk Talay) and our football ops staff and make some decisions about those players coming off contract.
"The implications for Wellington are actually a lot less than other clubs and the good news is we'll retain a lot of our existing players. The challenging bit is how we're going to afford it."
When the season does resume, Dome admits it's almost certain the Phoenix will have to base themselves in Australia.
The Phoenix spent eight days in isolation in Sydney last month in an attempt to continue the season, but returned home when the competition was suspended.
"If it does continue on, whether that's the remainder of the season or some sort of finals series, in the short term it looks like we'll have to do that out of an Australian base, as the Warriors are looking at, at the moment," said Dome.
"Unless there's a major turnaround in both Australia and New Zealand where travel between the two countries is relaxed and freed up, I very much see that it would be an Australian base."
