Football Australia must quickly fix their Bruno Fornaroli \u201cmistake\u201d to ensure the former Socceroo plays in the upcoming Australian Championship, according to ex-Adelaide United captain Stefan Mauk.<\/p>\n
Fornaroli is seemingly out of contention to feature in next month\u2019s Australian Championship after revealing he opted against signing for another club to ensure he could play in Avondale FC\u2019s NPL VIC Grand Final triumph\u00a0last week.<\/a><\/p>\n The 39-year-old A-League great entered the season decider against premiers Oakleigh Cannons knowing it would be his final appearance for Avondale, having already confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the campaign.<\/p>\n \u2018CRAZY\u2019: The decision Bruno Fornaroli made before Avondale\u2019s NPL VIC Grand Final triumph<\/a><\/p>\n But following Avondale\u2019s penalty shoot-out triumph over Oakleigh at Lakeside Stadium, Fornaroli revealed his next move could have come before the showpiece.<\/p>\n Signing for another club during the week would have made him unavailable to walk out with Avondale in the decider, leaving the 2026 NPL VIC Golden Boot winner with a significant call to make and he sacrificed an Australian Championship spot, with the registration window closed.<\/p>\n On this week\u2019s episode of the Football Friends\u00a0podcast alongside Stefan Mauk and Ben Garuccio, the former weighed into the situation.<\/p>\n For the full chat and plenty more, listen or watch below.<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows why Bruno\u2019s obviously decided to leave because you\u2019d assume they\u2019re one of the biggest NPL clubs that just won the grand final,\u201d Mauk, currently playing for Vietnamese champions CAHN, said. \u201cHe was the golden boot winner. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I wonder what other Australian Championship team tried to sign him and what they were throwing at him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think it\u2019s disappointing that he can\u2019t (play). I don\u2019t know how this works with the transfer windows for the Aus Championship compared to A-League, because they\u2019re not professional contracts, but surely Football Australia can just say, \u2018listen, we can let him play\u2019, because why would he miss out on the the grand final in Victoria when he\u2019s played with them the whole year to sign for the Aus Championship team, a different team? The timelines don\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve obviously just made a mistake with that and they need to fix it quickly. I\u2019m sure they can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I NEVER SAID THAT I WOULDN\u2019T\u2019: NPL champion clarifies viral A-League stance<\/a><\/p>\n The second Australian Championship will begin next month \u2013 the same weekend as the start of the A-Leagues campaign.<\/p>\n