The effect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in Australia on the A-League – Recent legal implications for clubs and players

The impact of COVID-19 on the Australian A-League and its professional clubs has had a significant legal effect on a twofold basis. Firstly, Australian clubs are heavily reliant on Pay TV funds which have been affected by the withholding by Foxtel (the Pay TV broadcaster of the A-League) of its next instalment payment which covers most of the AUD 3.2 million salary cap payments which are used to pay players. Secondly, as no funds are now being derived from Pay TV rights nor from gate receipts, merchandising, or sponsorships, most A-League clubs have stood down their professional players from their employment contract.

In fact, since the last A-League match occurred on 23 March 2020, 7 of the 11 A-League clubs have stood down players and staff due to a lack of revenue. At this stage, the A-League remains suspended until 31 May 2020 and the Australian Federal Government will revisit the current strict lockdowns on 11 May 2020.

The Pay TV broadcast rights contract dispute

The impact of no games and no product resulted in the A-League broadcaster Foxtel effectively walking away on 15 April 2020, halfway through a six-year deal in broadcasting the A-League, when it reportedly failed to transfer a scheduled instalment payment of nearly AUD 12 million to FFA for the last part of the A-League season. This has had a flow on effect that the FFA has not paid A-League clubs about AUD 900,000 each as part of their salary cap funding.

In response to Foxtel’s non-payment, the FFA is threatening...

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