Good news for the Wellington Phoenix players today with the announcement that their All Whites would be able to play against Perth Glory in Christchurch on Saturday.
Good news for the Wellington Phoenix players today with the announcement that their All Whites would be able to play against Perth Glory in Christchurch on Saturday.
The players looked likely to miss the game with New Zealand Football concerned that they may not have been able to join the rest of the squad in time for a flight to Los Angeles en route to their World Cup qualifying game against Mexico.
Phoenix General Manager David Dome said all the parties involved had worked extremely hard together to allow the club-s five All Whites and Perth Glory-s Shane Smeltz to play in the game.
The kick-off in Christchurch has been brought forward 30 minutes, to 5pm, enabling the five – Glen Moss, Leo Bertos, Andrew Durante, Ben Sigmund and Jeremy Brockie – along with Smeltz, to make the Christchurch to Auckland flight with greater ease.
“The Phoenix is very pleased with the resolution to this issue and we are extremely happy that all parties – New Zealand Football, Football Federation Australia, Fox Sports, Sky, Air New Zealand, Perth Glory, Vbase, Ticketek – have all come together to make this happen,” Dome said.
“Everyone involved has done their best to meet the obligations to sponsors, fans and the A-League and to ensure that all teams affected have the best chance of success.
“It shows what can be achieved when everyone works together in good faith for an outcome that benefits football overall.
“We just need a big crowd in Christchurch to make all the effort worthwhile.”
