Since soccer was suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Football Victoria has been working closely with its clubs and other stakeholders to develop a fair and reasonable refund policy for player registration and team entry fees.

To view the complete policy, visit www.footballvictoria.com.au/football-victoria-2020-fee-refund-policy

FULL FV MEDIA RELEASE

Football Victoria (FV) has finalised its refund policy for season 2020, following an extensive consultation with key football stakeholders in Victoria.

Due to the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), all football competitions in Victoria have been impacted to varying degrees, despite the best efforts of Football Victoria to keep the sport going.

As a result of the most recent announcements from The Premier in relation to Victorian COVID-19 restrictions, FV can now announce the cancellation of all 2020 competitions administered by FV.

Our Football Operations team will instead turn our focus towards the re-emergence of football when the current restrictions are lifted, which will include alternative football options and planning for 2021 competitions. Given this, it is now appropriate for FV to release the refund policy.

Since football was suspended, FV has been working closely with Clubs and other football stakeholders, to develop a fair and reasonable refund policy for player registration fees and team entry fees. This consultation process has provided valuable feedback, which has been central to us finalising our policy.

This refund policy, which covers 2020 team entry fees and FV's portion of player registration fees, has been shaped by the advice of a specially-appointed committee, drawn from within Victoria's own football community. The basis of the refund calculations has been drawn from cost apportionment principles.

As Football Victoria administers a vast number of differing competitions, all of which had differing levels of participation this season, calculating the specifics for each club has proven an extremely challenging task. Unfortunately, all of our clubs and FV itself bore many upfront and unavoidable ongoing costs that come with planning for a season. As FV attempted to resume football for a second time - and was days away from successfully doing so until lockdown restrictions resumed - the collective financial toll of this has been significant.

Please note that FV's Refund Policy relates only to the FV portion of fees for competitions administered by FV. Clubs and Associations will develop their own policies in accordance with their own costs incurred to date. In addition, regional players that are administered by an Association should contact their Association for information relating to their specific policy.

Football Victoria chairman Kimon Taliadoros praised the patience of the football community in sticking together in the most challenging of times.

"The support and understanding shown by everyone involved in the game in this state has been remarkable. The solidarity that exists in Victorian football is a testament to the people we have in this sport - be they players, coaches, volunteers or committee members," he said.

"To say this has been a testing period would be an understatement. It has pushed us all to the limit and sadly, it has pushed this sport to the limit. As a sporting body, we've done all we could to keep the game alive and we know every one of our Clubs across Victoria will continue to fight just as hard as we are."

Taliadoros said the entire football community should be made aware of how precarious the sport's position has become.

"Our Clubs are the heartbeat of this game. We have to do everything in our power to make sure they are looked after during this period. We know they are hurting so much and there is no hiding that this pandemic has put a significant number of our clubs at risk of disappearing," he said.

"We'll be asking everyone in the football community to join us in a fight back for football. For those who believe in the football mission, and are in a position to help, digging in and supporting your club at this time may be the difference between having a club next year or losing it."