Bid organiser Michael Caggiano. Photo: David Jordan.
Canberra’s A-League bid has secured a multi-million dollar deal with the ACT Government just hours before submitting its final proposal to Football Federation Australia (FFA).
The bid team announced that the ACT Government had agreed to back a Canberra A-League club with an ongoing commitment of $1.2 million a year should the bid be successful.
ACT Sports Minister Yvette Berry threw her support behind the bid, saying she was pleased to be able to contribute to bringing an A-League team to the Canberra region.
“The ACT Government sees major benefits for our community to a Canberra and Capital Region A-League club,” she said.
“There is clear potential to further showcase elite sporting talent in the ACT, bring new summer content to GIO Stadium Canberra and support the sport of football in its pursuit to grow the game from grassroots to elite levels in the ACT and region.”
Bid organiser Michael Caggiano said the Government’s commitment added additional financial muscle to what is already a very strong bid.
“This is amazing news, this commitment of ongoing Government funding is a major boost to the long-term financial prosperity of this club,” Caggiano said.
“Since the first day the bid was announced we’ve been blown away by the level of support from the local community and this offer just highlights just how much an A-League team would mean to this region.”
Caggiano said the bid was now in a position he believed would be very difficult for the FFA to turn away.
“We have more than 7,000 Foundation Members, we have Australia’s best technical director in Ron Smith, and now we have a funding commitment that will support the club for years to come,” he said.
The bid team handed in their final documentation to the FFA on Friday (31 August) with the Federation to make a final decision on the successful bids on 31 October.
Loading ...
