Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced it had issued Gold Coast United FC Pty Ltd with a notice of termination following material breaches of the Club Participation Agreement that governs the conduct of all clubs in the Hyundai A-League.

The termination has been made following at least three clear breaches of the Agreement in recent days, namely:

1. A conscious and deliberate contravention of FFA Policies and Procedures.

2. Deliberate defiance of a direction that was given by FFA; and

3. Repeated public statements made by or on behalf of Gold Coast United that bring the A-League, FFA and the game of football into disrepute and are prejudicial to the interests of FFA, the A-League and the game of football in Australia.

Gold Coast United committed material breaches last Saturday night at Skilled Stadium when the playing strip and the stadium signage featured an unapproved slogan, in deliberative contravention of a direction from FFA. ...

Qantas Socceroos Head Coach Holger Osieck today named a 23-player squad for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers against Oman (Muscat, 11 November 2011) and Thailand (Bangkok, 15 November 2011).
Osieck has selected all 18 players who were part of the Qantas Socceroos squad that recently defeated Malaysia 5-0 at Canberra Stadium in Canberra and Oman 3-0 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

Coming into the Qantas Socceroos squad are Brett Emerton, Harry Kewell & Mark Schwarzer along with Western Australian Chris Herd who receives his first Qantas Socceroos squad selection and Queenslander Mitch Nichols who returns to the squad after making his debut against Kuwait in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifier in Canberra in March 2009.

The Qantas Socceroos will assemble in Dubai early next week for a short training camp before arriving in Muscat on Thursday 10 November to face Oman the next day at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium. ...

Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced a restructure of the National Youth Men’s Teams coaching set-up that will see the role of Head Coach of the Qantas Young Socceroos separated from the role of Head Coach of the Qantas Joeys & Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Football Program.

FFA has now called for applications for the positions of Head Coach of the Qantas Young Socceroos and Head Coach of the Qantas Joeys & Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Football Program. FFA will work together with the AIS to select the Head Coach of the Qantas Joeys & Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Football Program.

The incumbent Qantas Young Socceroos, Qantas Joeys & AIS Football Program Head Coach, Jan Versleijen, has indicated to FFA that he will not be re-applying for any of the national youth team coaching positions once his current contract ends at the end of this calendar year. ...

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has announced new owners for Brisbane Roar FC with the Bakrie Group of Indonesia taking a controlling stake.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley welcomed the Bakrie Group into the Hyundai A-League family and said the announcement was a great result for Brisbane Roar, its supporters and the game in Australia.

“We have been working extremely hard to find the right investors for last year’s premiers and we believe we have found fantastic new owners in the Bakrie Group,” Buckley said.

“They have a strong background in football through ownership of several other clubs and their interests are in line with our outlook for the Roar.

“Our main priorities were to find investors that would not only provide the club with long term security but also give the club the best opportunity for continued success.

“It is an exciting time for football in Australia and shows the growing international recognition of the Hyundai A-League and its future growth prospects.” ...

After several false starts and more than two months of tortuous wrangling, Socceroos star Harry Kewell has agreed to join the Melbourne Victory.

Kewell has signed a three-year deal with the A-League club and will join his new team-mates in Melbourne in the first week of September.

The Victory have been negotiating with Kewell and agent Bernie Mandic since June towards a deal with the club involving a complex revenue-sharing deal. Several stumbling blocks, including a side deal with Football Federation Australia, have threatened the deal going ahead.

Club chairman Anthony Di Pietro said: "We are delighted to announce that Harry has chosen to play for our club.

"Harry is an Australian sporting icon and will bring not only incredible talent to Melbourne Victory but will attract more fans to football and boost greater interest and participation in the sport in Australia. ...

Australia international midfielder Marco Bresciano has left Lazio to join Al Nasr in the United Arab Emirates in a deal believed to be worth around £3.4 million.

Bresciano, 31, spent a year at Lazio following more successful spells at Parma and Palermo, and Al Nasr's team manager, Khalid Obaid, told Gulf News his team can now look to challenge for trophies on all fronts.

He said: "Bresciano is a good addition to the team with European experience. The board has supported (coach) Walter Zenga's ambition and with Bresciano we will challenge for the title and Asian Champions League progression this season.

"Zenga is a hard-working coach and after last season's growth and with this signing we're expecting to challenge. They've all worked very hard we just need a little luck. But Zenga has made the difference. He's built a team without any stars, the star is the team, there is no one player." ...

Marcos Flores will no longer be an Adelaide United player according to the following report in the Adelaide Advertiser.

The Johnny Warren medal winner will walk away from Adelaide's marquee contract offer in favour of Chinese football. Flores will be transferred to China's Henan Jianye during the FIFA July/August transfer window's first day of business on Friday.

The proposed Adelaide deal which would have tied Flores to the Reds until 2014 wasn't good enough. Flores was still hoping to agree to terms with the Reds last Friday when he was interviewed by Fox Sports football host Simon Hill during The Martyn Crook Foundation dinner.

Hill highlighted the fact Flores had lit up Alice Springs and Uluru during the flying Reds visit to Central Australia with Eugene Galekovic and Daniel Mullen a fortnight ago before asking the inevitable "will you stay or go" question.

"Love and business are two different things," Flores said.

Adelaide chairman Greg Griffin confirmed Flores was on his way to China. ...

A Fifa report seen by the Press Association says there is 'overwhelming evidence' that Mohamed bin Hammam used bribery in his presidential campaign.

The ethics committee also stated that former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner was "an accessory to corruption".

Warner resigned from his role on Monday and quit all football activities.

As a result, football's governing body dropped all investigations into Warner, adding that "the presumption of innocence is maintained".

However, the full report of the ethics committee headed by Namibian judge Petrus Damaseb said there was "comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming" proof that bribes had been paid to officials to support Bin Hammam's campaign for the Fifa presidency, and that Warner had facilitated this.

Both 68-year-old Warner, from Trinidad and Tobago, and Qatar's Bin Hammam, 62, were provisionally suspended on 29 May. ...