It's an NZF rule apparently. So they can rewrite the regs to not have a standdown period if they like.
How has it taken them 7 years to do so then? The benefits are obvious.
Is it to do with making sure the league stays classified as amateur? I think the FIFA position is 30 days but an individual country can agree to vary it
This is also my understanding.
As for the question about how long it's taken. They grey area is the affect it might have on amateur status, not from a FIFA perspective but from a gaming machine charitable trust perspective.
The Auckland City-led lobby against changing the rules is/was very concerned that their golden egg layer might get plucked if the rules are changed to suit the Feenix.
When you are getting $1.5m a season, you are going to protect that any way you can.
Can totally understand ACFC's angst, the presence of the Nix in the league as a professional team will put the spotlight on what other teams are doing are whether they are actually amateur or (semi) professional. It's a bit hard for them to argue against the Nix coming in for that reason though, unless they pretty much admit they are paying players (because otherwise, what's the problem?).
Must be interesting discussions in Andy Martin's office...
By the way JV, where did you get $1.5m from? More like $500k approx per annum going to ACFC from pokies, and another $200k approx to Central Utd.