Phoenix pros may save All Whites

NZ Players’ Association still waiting for response after raising concerns, but the worst-case scenario of fielding an entirely amateur team is unlikely to come to pass. Andrew Voerman reports.

The Wellington Phoenix could have a key role in easing some of the player availability worries the All Whites have around the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in Qatar in March.

New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Harry Ngata confirmed it raised concerns about the integrity of the tournament and player welfare with Fifpro, the international players’ union, which in turn raised them with Fifa, the global governing body.

The format for the eight-team qualifying tournament was nevertheless confirmed by Fifa last Monday. It includes two matches outside the March international window, the period where players have to be released from their clubs, which puts New Zealand at a disadvantage compared to their regional rivals, who have few pro players.

All Whites coach Danny Hay was left frustrated and will spend significant time in the coming months confirming the availability of his players for what could be as many as eight days prior to the start of the window on March 21, with their first group stage match pencilled in for the 17th, and their second for the 20th.

Everyone will be available ahead of their final group stage match, which is set to be on the 24th, with the semifinals set to follow on the 27th. The final to determine Oceania’s representative in the one-off intercontinental playoff against the fourth-placed team from North and Central America and the Caribbean is set down for the 30th.

For some players, such as Chris Wood at Burnley in the English Premier League and Sarpreet Singh at Jahn Regensburg in the German second-tier, the prospect will be a non-starter. They will only leave to join the All Whites after their matches the weekend of March 19 are completed.

But there will be room to negotiate with clubs in lesser leagues, especially those that don’t break for international windows, and it is understood the view at NZ Football is that while the worstcase scenario, as outlined by Hay this week, of fielding an entirely amateur team, remains a live possibility, it is unlikely to come to pass.

It’s a fluid situation and will continue to be until the end of the January transfer window, where a number of All Whites could change clubs. A more likely scenario would involve around half a typical 23-man squad being swapped in and out halfway through the tournament.

NZ Football has a useful ally in the Wellington Phoenix, the country’s only pro club, which plays in A-League Men, one of the competitions that doesn’t break for international windows. Any Phoenix players selected would therefore be set to miss a match even if the entire tournament in March was played inside the window, opening the door for a potential compromise.

Relations between the governing body and the Phoenix are said to be at an all-time high by sources on both sides and coach Ufuk Talay indicated this week he would be open to going above and beyond to help New Zealand qualify for a World Cup for a third time.

‘‘That’s a discussion that we’ll have to have with New Zealand Football and also with Danny [Hay], on who he’d like to bring in. I understand it’s a difficult process when there are games outside of the window and then inside of the window.

‘‘At the end of the day we’ll try to help NZ Football as much as we can, so they can qualify and go to a World Cup, because I think it’s a great opportunity for those players to be in that spotlight and

play in a Cup. These things don’t come very often, so we’re trying to help them as much as they can, and we will try to make it work where it helps them, and helps us at the same time.’’

Talay acknowledged there ‘‘might be a trade-off’’. One possible arrangement could involve Phoenix players leaving after the

team’s match against Brisbane Roar on March 12, missing the one against Newcastle Jets on March 18, but returning in time to face Perth Glory on the weekend of March 26, the match they would have missed if they only left during the window.

Similar arrangements could be made with other A-League

clubs and clubs in other leagues that don’t break for international windows, such as England’s League Two, home to centre-back Tommy Smith at Colchester United, and Italy’s Serie C, home to right-back Niko Kirwan at Padova. There will also be players based in Scandinavian countries whose leagues aren’t due to start

until April and players who are able to negotiate an early release due to their standing at their clubs, or because they aren’t part of the first-team setup.

Ngata, a former All White, said concerns were flagged by the NZPFA via Fifpro ahead of the format announcement and had been reiterated since, though it was yet to receive any response. Fifa did not respond to a request from the Sunday Star-Times at the time of the announcement for an interview as to why it had approved the playing of World Cup qualifiers outside the widow. Oceania Football Confederation competitions director Chris Kemp said this week it was the ‘‘best option’’ possible ‘‘under the circumstances’’.

One of the NZPFA’s concerns was ‘‘around the integrity of the tournament – you’ve largely got one team disadvantaged because you can’t pick your best players for the entire tournament’’.

Ngata added: ‘‘This is not in the spirit of football where you’ve got a country disadvantaged like this’’.

The other was around player welfare – how some players could end up playing five matches in the space of 15 days with limited preparation, in a Middle Eastern country where there are set to be heat protocols, while others would be arriving in the middle of the tournament and ‘‘be forced to play some super important games with no real preparation’’.

NZ Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said it is ‘‘taking stock’’ from an operational perspective now it hadn’t wound up with the format preferred – a series of three knockout rounds played entirely inside the March window to narrow eight teams down to one.

The All Whites are close to locking in two matches against Asian opposition for the January window. They have then been drawn with Fiji, New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea in Group B for the Oceania qualifiers.