Australia won't allow the Phoenix (or any NZ A League side) to play in the AFC, even if they win the A League. They also restrict the playing squad compared to the Australian-based A league sides, and won't allow the Phoenix into the reserve competition. They also brand NZ players as imports when rugby league and rugby don't thus restricting their appeal to most A League sides. Why would this be? My guess is they want to tap into NZ as a useful added market for the A League while not wanting to develop NZ football too much.
It's a pretty rum deal if you ask me. I've always harboured a suspicion that if the ASBP ever collapsed through NZF's foolish indifference and with it went NZ's prospects of competing in the O League, then FFA could simply pull the plug on a NZ franchise in the A League and NZ football would plunge into the dark ages, with only the small scale winter club scene left.
So it makes it even crazier that NZF should show so little interest in the ASBP and O league.
Out of interest - are NZ players branded as imports in the Australian state league competitions or does that only apply to the A League?
I don't think you can say 'Australia have branded Kiwis as imports'. I would suspect that would be an AFC ruling at confederation level which would be out of the FFAs hands. Within the leagues of Australia governed by the FFA, who knows...
What they do in rugby and league is of little relevance because there are only 2 leagues in the world - NRL and Super League and Super 15 and whatever is played in England so not even close to the same comparison against the many decent leagues in football across the world.
I also think you contradict yourself. On one hand, the FFA brand Kiwis as imports because they view NZ as a useful market for the HAL. Why would they then as you said, jettison that team if the ASBP collapses? Surely if NZ is a useful market place, they wont be cutting that off when our domestic league here fails. They are not even related or close to it.
Perhaps you're right but I suspect FFA sided with and even encouraged the Asian confederation having NZ players listed as imports because it's in their interest. You have to ask yourself why would the Asian nations be bothered about the status of NZ players in the A League if NZ is in Oceania? It doesn't seem an issue in the Australian state leagues as I see a number of ASBP players have headed to the Queensland league and a recent game between Green Gully and South Melbourne in the VPL featured three Kiwis - James Musa, Jason Haynes and Jeffrey Fleming. So why is it such a big deal in the A League? I suspect if NZ players weren't imports and thus restricted, we could have a dozen or more playing for Australian-based A League sides. FFA doesn't want that.
Also it is a contradiction - Australia want to expand their television base into NZ but don't want to open the door to too many NZ players playing in the A League.