The global financial crisis will have no impact on the proposed expansion of the Hyundai A-League, according to Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive Ben Buckley.
Buckley, speaking in Melbourne on Monday as he announced the venues for the Socceroos' remaining home matches in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, said the FFA was well-placed to weather any downturn in the economy.
The competition will expand to 10 teams next season with the inclusion of the Gold Coast Galaxy and the Northern Thunder, based in Townsville, while a second Melbourne team - the Melbourne Heart - could join the competition the following season as the A-League eventually expands to 12 teams.
Buckley said the FFA's timetable for expanding the current eight-team domestic competition would go ahead as planned despite the world economic downturn.
"We have got no plans to put the brakes on expansion and the people who are backing the expansion teams certainly have enough financial resources and management resources to see them through some of the turbulence that is out there at the moment and we are very confident of their business plans," Buckley said on Monday.
"And in fact one of them is running very well ahead of their business plan at this stage so we have no intention at this point in time to slow down our expansion."
While Buckley said no organisation could safely be immune to the financial crisis, he said sporting organisations were better placed than most to withstand tough times.
"Sport is one of those outlets that does create a lot of positive experiences and positive energy and when times are tough sport is often one of the things people turn to, to remind them of the positive things in life," he said.
"And we would hope that would continue and I think you see that in all forms of football codes around the world."
Buckley said the FFA's financial position was strong, having just signed a new deal with sponsors Optus.
"We haven't experienced anything in terms of a negative commercial impact at this stage and we just signed a new agreement with Optus on the weekend, which is a very, very positive sign."
"And I guess that points to a couple of things, one that football is still growing and two that football still has a very strong place in the commercial landscape."