Melbourne Victory’s chairman Anthony Di Pietro has resigned as a director of the Australian Professional Leagues amid continuing fallout in soccer from the contentious decision to sell the A-League grand finals to Sydney for three years.
Di Pietro said his decision was effective immediately and was directly linked to the move to the A-League’s controversial move to play its showpiece men’s and women’s grand finals in a single host city.
“It has become clear that in order for me to act in the best interests of Melbourne Victory and football in Victoria, I needed to resign as a board member of APL,” Di Pietro said.
“My resignation was ultimately driven by the decision announced yesterday, that sees the next three grand finals being hosted in Sydney.
The move has split club owners and prompted fans of Melbourne’s two biggest clubs to promise to stage a walkout during Saturday’s derby in protest.
Domestic football in Australia has long stood apart from the other codes by granting the highest-placing team the right to host the A-League decider, which has been taken to all five major capital cities in the competition’s near-two-decade history.
In a statement on Tuesday, Di Pietro said he could no longer maintain his role as an APL Director and be able to freely advocate on behalf of Melbourne Victory.
Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro.Credit:Getty Images
“While I know first-hand the decision by APL was made with a view to growing the game and creating financial sustainability for the league, the fan and member sentiment has been overwhelming and I cannot support maintaining a decision which is not in the best interests of the loyal Melbourne Victory faithful and football,” Di Pietro said.
Di Pietro said he and Melbourne Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie had urged the APL to pause the plan and consider an alternative that supported the growth and stability of the league, while also allowing both the men’s and women’s grand finals to continue to be played in the city of the highest ranked qualifier.
Western United, which won the last championship at AAMI Park, criticised the decision by APL on Tuesday.
“We do not support the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s, Liberty A-League Women’s or the E-League Grand Finals being played in Sydney for the next three seasons,” United said in a statement.
“Our club isn’t represented on the APL board, and we weren’t consulted on the decision announced yesterday. While we are grateful to Destination NSW for wanting to support football financially and the APL’s efforts to increase its commercial revenue, the reaction of our fans over the last 24 hours speaks volumes.
“Western United is a young club that is being built for the football fans in the west of Melbourne and Victoria. We strongly believe that they are entitled to attend a grand final in their home state should we be successful in earning the right to do so.”
More to come
