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A-League commissioner Nick Garcia says talks to sell a licence for a Canberra franchise remain ongoing but, with the 2024-25 campaign drawing near, the league will need surety over its status "one way or the other, in the next two to three weeks." Canberra, alongside Auckland, was revealed as an expansion destination by the league in March 2023, with then chief executive Danny Townsend stating the goal was to have the licences awarded by June. But while American billionaire Bill Foley was eventually confirmed as the preferred bidder for Auckland that October and the franchise revealed its name, badge, and colours last week, the Canberra licence remains unclaimed. - Subscribe to ESPN's Women's Football Podcast: The Far Post "We are dealing with a consortium that is made up of people from the football world, people in the investment world, [who are] tied in with a European club," Garcia told ESPN. "They've done a huge amount of work in the background, which is why we're able to stretch the deadline for when they get awarded [a licence]. Their bid document looks solid, and the way they're constructing it makes sense, but there are some things they've got to iron out." Australian Professional Leagues (APL) chair Stephen Conroy described talks as being "well advanced," on Tuesday morning, but cited bodies such as the Foreign Investment Review Board and Football Australia as also requiring input. "As you imagine, there are always multiple layers to any expansion process and there's a couple of things that they are just trying to nail down right now, which are not things we can help [the consortium] with," explained Garcia. "They've got to go away and come back to us. They believe the response to that is imminent ... it kind of has to be because we need to know where it's a go or no go on Canberra for the 2024-25 season. "We want to get them confirmed, one way or the other, in the next two to three weeks." Amidst the expansion process, the Canberra United A-League Women team, owned and operated by state federation Capital Football, has been left in a holding pattern with the long-standing expectation that their licence would be absorbed by the new franchise. But with no buyer, United players have been left uncertain as to their futures with just three games remaining on their season, with club legend Michelle Heyman telling the Canberra Times players could walk away over the lack of certainty. "All [Heyman's conversations are] with Capital Football," said Garcia. "When we have a surety that this is moving forward, subject to the normal processes, we'll tell the players as a priority. Right now, there's nothing really to tell them because it's all under commercial in confidence. "It's not the right time to have the conversation. "We're not their employer. Capital Football is but we speak with Capital Football regularly." Conroy emphasised the importance of the sale on Tuesday, saying the A-League was no longer in a position to financially underwrite clubs; meaning it would remain the responsibility of Capital Football to fund United in 2024-25 should a new Canberran franchise not take over its operations. It's a situation mirrored at the Newcastle Jets, where, should its licence remain unsold heading into next season, it will require a further funding commitment from the four rival A-League owners that took over custodianship of its licence in early 2021 to continue operating. Conroy on Tuesday dismissed a Newcastle Herald report that the APL was stalling a potential sale of the Jets to a consortium headed by former Nike executive Paul Francis, labelling it as parties trying to gain "leverage through the newspapers." Garcia, meanwhile, reiterated that, unlike the Canberra process or the recently completed deal for Perth Glory, the APL wasn't involved in the sale of the Jets, with it instead the responsibility of the quartet funding the stricken club to find a buyer. "The first thing to understand about the Jets process is everyone confuses it with the Perth process," he said. "It's completely different, right? It's a private sale of a club which is led by the club owners."
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