APL chief executive Danny Townsend has confirmed to ESPN that Bayern Munich have withdrawn from a proposed tour of Australia, with a highly disrupted calendar meaning the "window of opportunity is closing" to find an opponent for a planned fixture against an A-League All-Stars side.
Reports previously linked the likes of Internazionale and Paris Saint-Germain with a trip Down Under, but it was German giants Bayern who were in deep negotiations for a fixture against an All-Stars outfit in the week leading up to the A-League Men's Grand Final in June, only for German outlet Bild to report over the weekend that they had withdrawn.
Last season, Barcelona travelled to Sydney for a game against a Dwight Yorke-coached All-Stars side, with the Catalans winning 3-2; a game that helped propel Garang Kuol into an international spotlight ahead of a World Cup appearance and move to Newcastle United.
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Bild reported that Bayern pulled out after organisers were unable to fulfil promises of a €4m-5m windfall, but Townsend denied that figure, stating it was "nowhere near that amount of money that we're asking for."
"We've been in negotiations with many clubs over many months, around the All-Stars for this season," Townsend told ESPN. "Bayern were one of those clubs. We were a long way down the path with them, but not just them. But they won't be coming out to Australia, for various reasons.
"It was largely a magnitude of things really, that sort of got in the way of that and the others. Largely due to the international domestic football calendar with the World Cup wedged into the middle of it meant that all those European leagues ran late, which meant the Champions League final was on after our Grand Final and getting clubs to commit whilst they were still alive in that competition meant the window to negotiate with them, really became very small.
"So that and most of the teams that we would want playing the All Stars are riddled with internationals, who have all played more football this year than they've ever played before, with their domestic competitions, their World Cup appearances, their intercontinental matches.
"Most clubs wanted to rest their players as quickly as this season ended. So it was certainly a more challenging year than it normally is."
The ALM Grand Final is scheduled to take place on June 3 in the first year under a new three-year deal with Destination NSW to stage the games in Sydney, following a two-week break after the conclusion of the semifinals on May 21.
It means that time is rapidly evaporating to find an opponent of the necessary name recognition and calibre to take on an All-Stars side in the intervening period.
"We are still exploring it," said Townsend. "It's complex, it's challenging, you've got multiple stakeholders that you need to align. So they're not easy things to get away, particularly this season.
"We are still trying but the window of opportunity is closing.
"There is one backup plan that we're exploring at the moment which I'd rather not talk to, but it's an interesting one that is a little bit left-field.
"We're focused also on preserving the brand of the All-Stars. We don't want the All-Stars playing a club or a team that isn't world-class, doesn't have a storied history -- we relaunched them with Barcelona.
"We want to continue the All Stars to be a genuine recognition for performances in the A-League and go on and play major teams around the world as part of that recognition. So we've got to be careful who we pit them against."