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AAP
AAP
Sport
Anna Harrington

A-Leagues, fans 'must reach GF resolution'

Fans protested and walked out in opposition to Sydney hosting the next three years' grand finals. (Darren Pateman/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson has urged A-Leagues bosses to engage with supporters and reach a resolution on the fate of the competitions' grand finals.

The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) decision to sell the next three A-League Men's and Women's grand finals to Sydney as part of a deal with tourism body Destination NSW sparked fan outrage last week.

The issue has been somewhat lost in the wake of Victory fans violently storming the pitch in Saturday night's derby with Melbourne City, when City goalkeeper Tom Glover was hit with a metal bucket and suffered a concussion and facial laceration.

Other fan groups either peacefully walked out of their games at the 20-minute mark, or in Sydney FC's case boycotted a match altogether.

On Tuesday night, 11 supporter groups - representing every ALM club except Victory - reaffirmed their "commitment to the cause that saw supporters boycott and walk out of stadiums this past round".

The APL has shown no sign of budging on its plans.

Football Australia were not involved in the deal to sell the grand finals but were made aware of it last Sunday night, the evening before it was announced.

"On one hand, the league needs to grow its own economy," Johnson told the ABC on Wednesday.

"That's important so that the clubs and the league can invest in their product.

"But they also ... need to ensure that fans remain at the heart of their thinking and decision making.

"So the view of Football Australia is simply that we need a resolution.

"We need a dialogue between the A-League, the clubs and the fans, and we need better explanation as to why that decision was made.

"We're happy to see that the A-League is talking to the fans and we encourage further dialogue, so at least there's a better understanding of the rationale behind the decision."

In their joint statement on Tuesday night, supporters urged the APL to explore reversing the decision to sell the grand finals to Sydney, to look at "any commercial alternatives available" and to apologise for making the decision without consulting players and supporters.

Fans also called for the APL to change its board structure, which currently features several club chairmen, to "have total independence from any club's involvement".

In addition, they want the league to establish a supporters' committee, to be consulted by the APL on key decisions.

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