The salary cap. A staple of all the Australian football codes. A useful tool to ensure a relatively equal competition, and keep a check on clubs spending.

Caps are used primarily in “franchise”-based leagues in North America and Australasia - they remain popular in the NFL, AFL and NRL, because there is little, or no international market for players, and the competitions don’t feature promotion and relegation. Thus, financial parity between clubs ensures the wealthier clubs don’t dominate, and most have something to play for every season.

So it is here with the Hyundai A-League.

The same system that saw Berisha arrive and Victory could see Ben Khalfallah leave. Source: Getty Images

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But as discussed in a recent column, football in Australia doesn’t exist in isolation, and we will eventually have to move towards the global model. While the financial situation of most of our clubs remains fragile enough to ensure the cap stays in place for now, it’s my belief that a discussion needs to take place on the easing of some of its more stringent regulations.

Specifically, this relates to the case of Fahid Ben Khalfallah.

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The Tunisian is tearing up the competition at the moment - and, as an unintended consequence, he is giving his employers, Melbourne Victory, a rather large headache in the process. The reason? Khalfallah is out of contract soon, wants a significant pay rise (which he deserves), and Victory can afford, and would like, to keep him.

The snag? The club already has its allocation of marquee players, so acceding to Khalfallah’s wage demands gives them major issues with the cap.

Ironically, Victory are experiencing the same impasse that befell Brisbane Roar at the end of last season, when they were unable to keep Besart Berisha due to Thomas Broich’s marquee status. Essentially, they were left with Hobson’s choice. The outcome? Berisha went to Victory, for free.

This time it’s Victory who may be the victims of circumstance, but need that be the case?

If we are serious about improving the standard of the A-League, then surely clubs such as Victory and Roar should be rewarded for their smart recruitment - not punished.

Football in Australia needs to wean itself off the slavish devotion to rules designed for other codes - rules which are easier to comply with, when you are dealing with sports with little, or no international footprint.

The salary cap meant Brisbane Roar couldn’t keep both Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha. Source: News Corp Australia

They are competing in a predominantly local market. We exist in a global framework, a fact we spruik when it suits us, but eschew when it comes to the realities of how football operates around the world.

Ah, you say, but wouldn’t allowing Victory to keep Khalfallah at an increased price skew the competition? Wouldn’t the big city clubs become so powerful, that smaller outfits would sink to the bottom of the league, never to return?

Perhaps. But money is no guarantee of success, and it’s worth noting that, even in ten years of a salary-capped A-League, only Newcastle and Central Coast Mariners have broken the hegemony of the big city clubs anyway - with Sydney, Victory and Brisbane taking seven of the nine championships between them.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s form has left Victory with a headache of sorts. Source: News Corp Australia

I’m not arguing for the removal of the cap per se. But I do think there should be some incentive for clubs who want to make on-field progress, and keep a good squad intact. In this case, Victory wouldn’t be improving their roster - merely maintaining it.

Some have suggested foreign players be exempt from the cap altogether, and - long-term - that is one potential remedy.

In the short-term, maybe FFA could introduce a rule whereby clubs who make a financial profit (as Victory do), are able to reinvest at least a portion of that to retain their better players. Isn’t that what UEFA’s much-vaunted Financial Fair Play is all about? In Europe however, it’s too late - the margin between the big clubs and the rest is already huge, and FFP is a sop to protect the wealthy. Here, it can be used to our advantage, where growth can be managed, and incentives given for strong performance off the pitch.

Sydney FC spent millions to have Alessandro Del Piero on their roster. Source: News Corp Australia

Of course, the bigger clubs will eventually grow stronger - but that is happening anyway. Remember too, that Sydney FC spent millions on Alessandro del Piero, while Central Coast Mariners have never had an international marquee. Yet up until this season, the Gosford-based club were still competitive, because they were well run, and developed quality young talent - they still do in fact.

Much is made of the Mariners ability to “punch above their weight” - and fair enough too. Yet why are we so accepting of clubs such as Victory, who are forced, (through no fault of their own), to punch UNDER their weight, when their stated aim is to be a force in Asia, where caps don’t exist? Football has always had big clubs and small clubs - it always will.

Central Coast Mariners have shown it’s not all about money in the A-League. Source: News Limited

Equality is great, so long as the overall quality improves each year. But redistributing Khalfallah to another A-League club - which may be the scenario that plays out here - merely dilutes the level, and offers no financial recompense (domestically) to those forced to part with their better players.

In AFL and Rugby League, maintaining the status quo works, because nobody knows if the level is improved or not - there are few international barometers of progress. But we are football (as the FFA slogan goes) - the global game, and we should do things our own way. In fact, we must, to keep heading in the right direction.