Professional Footballers Australia chief Brendan Schwab has heightened fears that one or maybe even two clubs will be cut from the A-League by the end of the current season.
With a handful of clubs already struggling financially, Schwab revealed that the North Queensland Fury have been told to not open contract talks with their players, indicating they may not be in operation next term.
There is also speculation that the same has happened at Gold Coast United, the club owned by mining billionaire Clive Palmer, which is failing to attract decent crowds.
Schwab hinted that these two clubs may not be around come next season and has been advising players on what steps to take going forward.
"Obviously, we are seriously concerned about the prospect of a contraction in the A-League and have been advising our members it is a real possibility," Schwab told The Australian yesterday. "But this is a matter for the FFA because they made the decision to strategically expand in to these markets two years ago.
"One of the clubs (Fury) is owned by the FFA and we trust they still see the merits in their decision, given we are only two years into the experiment.
"The (Fury) players instructed us a few weeks ago about the situation. The matter needs to be resolved urgently."
The FFA issued a short statement last night which read: "We are talking to Fury management to review their roster over the next few weeks as a part of the club's overall strategic development."