Soccer-Sydney FC chief blasts Aussie Rules in A-League final row

Melbourne Victory earned the right to host the 10th A-League title-decider against Sydney FC by finishing top of the regular season standings.

The Docklands Stadium, where Victory beat Melbourne City in front of more than 50,000 in the semi-finals, was already booked for an Australian Football League (AFL) match between Western Bulldogs and Fremantle Dockers, however.

The A-League "Grand Final" will therefore be played at the 30,000-seater Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, meaning disappointment for thousands of fans of both finalists.

"I just don't know what the AFL are scared of. Really it's a disgrace they wouldn't agree to move the Bulldogs game," Pignata told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

"(The Rectangular Stadium) is a great venue from a footballing purists' point of view. It'll be packed to the rafters and a great atmosphere.

"But we have 12,000 members, and only a quarter of them will be able to get tickets. They're really angry and understandably so.

"I've had loads of messages via social media and it's very unfair that almost three-quarters of our members can't get a ticket."

Rows between Australia's four professional football codes are not uncommon and some soccer fans will perceive the AFL's refusal to move the match as a bid to protect their primacy in Melbourne against the increasingly popular round-ball game.

Even some of the most ardent soccer fans, though, have conceded that Football Federation Australia (FFA) must take a share of the blame for not booking up all the potential venues for the final well in advance.

"All this bleating about GF venue. Due diligence should have been done earlier, all bases covered. We want to be (number one) code then we have to act like it," respected soccer writer Ray Gatt tweeted on Monday.

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold suggested playing the final at a smaller ground might also have a silver lining for his players.

"The good thing about that is there's only going to be 25,000 there and not 55,000 so it shouldn't be too daunting down there," he said after Saturday's 4-1 semi-final victory over Adelaide United. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)