Buckley: Focus remains on A-League

Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley has again defended the game in the wake of comments from Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer, saying the governing body has the Hyundai A-League as its priority.

Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley has again defended the game in the wake of comments from Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer, saying the governing body has the Hyundai A-League as its priority.

Newspaper comments attributed to Palmer over the weekend were derogatory towards the code with Buckley saying they were ‘insensitive’ and ‘disrespectful- to the game and its supporters.

“I think those comments were insensitive and somewhat disrespectful to the millions of people out there who support the game, love the game and are passionate fans of the game,” said Buckley.

“The volunteers, the coaches, the players, all of those people who invest, not only their free time, but work hard in the community.”

Buckley said he would speak with Palmer about the club’s ongoing future saying the FFA would evaluate the situation taking into account many factors.

“We’ll take our time and evaluate the future of Gold Coast United over the course of the next four to six weeks and the remainder of the season,” he said.

“We’ll take a sensible, rational approach to look at the future of Gold Coast United.”

Buckley said the FFA will not allow the weekend-s events surrounding Gold Coast United to take away from what has been a highly successful Hyundai A-League season.

“First and foremost, our priority is to make sure the remainder of the season and the integrity of the competition remains in place,” he said.

“We have seen record attendances, record TV audiences and record memberships.”

“Our absolute priority is to make sure that the remainder of the Hyundai A-League season will be wonderful conclusion to what has already been a fantastic season.”