Melbourne Victory chair Anthony Di Pietro has urged the Australian Professional Leagues board to reverse its decision to sell grand final hosting rights to Sydney after “overwhelming” backlash prompted him to step down as a board director.
Announced on Monday, the APL board’s eight-figure, three-year deal with the NSW Government faced immediate criticism and broke the A-Leagues’ tradition of permitting the highest-ranked ALM or ALW team to host the decider.
Di Pietro had been one of five representatives from clubs sitting on the board but tendered his resignation on Tuesday and released a lengthy joint statement with Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie that addressed the grand final saga.
“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.
“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.
“Together with Caroline, we have urged APL to pause this plan and consider an alternative that supports the growth and stability of the League while also allowing both the Men’s and Women’s A-League Grand Finals to continue to be played in the city of the highest ranked qualifier.”
Di Pietro’s resignation comes after Victory and Melbourne City fans revealed plans to stage a walkout in the 20th minute of their derby this weekend.
“The fans obviously are frustrated,” Melbourne City winger Marco Tilio told reporters.
“But for me as a player, I’ll just go out there to perform and I support our fans to hopefully stay there for 90 minutes of the game.”
APL chief executive Danny Townsend told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday the clubs were complicit in the arrangement.
Wellington Phoenix also released a statement on Tuesday.
“We understand the fans are emotional about this and are passionate about the grand final structure we’ve had,” Townsend said on Tuesday.
“We certainly don’t want to see walk-outs but I’m sure we’ll work with fans over the next couple of days to try and help them better understand the rationale behind our decision.”
