Events

The Round 26 A-League match was scheduled for Saturday March 23 at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, but has been rescheduled to Wednesday February 27 at the same venue.
The Stage 3 qualifiers were not confirmed until after the A-League 2012/13 season draw was released causing the All Whites matches against New Caledonia on Friday March 22 and the Solomon Islands on Tuesday March 26 to clash with the A-League encounter.
With up to ten Phoenix players expected to be unavailable for selection due to national team duties, and the international transfer window not open during that period, the FFA determined the New Zealand-based side would be unable to sign any replacements in order to field a team.
The Phoenix do not have a National Youth League team from which to call up players and the Phoenix Centre of Excellence players are subject to international transfer restrictions meaning they are unable to be signed outside the registration window.
Unlike most other professional competitions around the world the FFA has a policy of playing on through international windows – a policy which hit the Phoenix bench hard during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in October.
The side were forced to hand A-League debuts to at least four players as their match against the Melbourne Heart on Sunday October 14 fell too close to the All Whites match against Tahiti in Papeete on October 12.