Victorian-based A-League club Western United could be expelled from the A-League after sensationally being stripped of its A-League licence.
Football Australia and the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) confirmed the decision to the Sydney Morning Herald:
The first instance board met on Thursday night and “determined that Western United FC has failed to meet the criteria required to be granted an A-League licence,” a spokesperson for Football Australia said.
“As such, Western United FC’s licence has been withdrawn, effective immediately.
Western United have 7 days to launch an appeal on this decision.
United, who are coached by Socceroos great John Aloisi, won the A-League title three years ago.
Former Socceroo and North Geelong defender Steve Horvat is part of the ownership group, whilst Sydney United great Marko Rudan was the club’s inaugural coach.
Western United was founded in 2018, when they won an expansion licence ahead of ex-NSL giants South Melbourne and a Team 11 bid, which had planned to build a stadium in Dandenong.
Founded as Western Melbourne, the team rebranded via a public vote and became Western United.
United spent big from the outset, signing ex-Greece midfielder Panagiotis Kone and ex-Italy attacker Alessandro Diamanti as their inaugural marquee players.
The Tarneit club has been in financial trouble for some time, with late player payments, missed superannuation payments and threatened player strikes all coming over the last year.
FIFA had placed a transfer ban on United, which prevented new signing Jaiden Kucharski and free agent re-signing Ben Garuccio playing in their Australia Cup match against Sydney FC.
Last season their top goalscorer was Sydney-raised Australian-Croatian striker Noah Botić, who has since signed for Austria Vienna.
United were A-League Men Champions in 2022.
Western United made finals last season with one of the youngest squads in A-League history, despite off-field issues already simmering.
Western United chairman Jason Sourasis announced the sale of a controlling stake three months ago to KAM Melbourne.
“After a 12-month due diligence process and multiple visits to Melbourne, we are delighted to inject our capital, expertise and passion into Western Melbourne Group and its related entities,” said Maciek (MG) Kaminski, KAM Melbourne co-founder.
“This represents our first investment Down Under, and the combination of integrating sport and real estate to make a meaningful impact in the local community in the west attracted us to this opportunity. The scale and scope of the WMG vision aligns very well to our own skill sets where we can add real value.”
Western United, who won its licence on the promise of building a 15,000-capacity stadium in Tarneit.
“We are thrilled by the significant investment and commitment from KAM Melbourne. It was important to partner with a group that aligned with our values and believed in the vision,” Sourasis said after the KAM deal was announced.
“It has been an intensive 12-month due diligence process, in which KAM Melbourne took the time to truly understand our vision and the role it will play in shaping the needs of a fast-growing community. This investment also marks a significant milestone for Wyndham City Council, Australian Football and Australian Sport in general.
“It will ensure the delivery of significant social and economic benefits for the City of Wyndham and the state of Victoria. Most importantly, it allows for the acceleration of sporting pathways for boys and girls in the West of Melbourne, allowing them to ‘Dream Big’ whilst supporting their local teams and hopefully following in the footsteps of their sporting idols.”
The last line of the release stated: ‘The transaction is subject to successful completion of the necessary approval processes by Wyndham City, the APL and regulatory processes by Football Australia (FA)’.
Today, the deal appeared dead in the water.
