There are fears the changes could restrict the tenure of foreign players to four years in the A-League and W-League due to the phasing out of the 457 skilled immigration visa and its replacement with a shorter-term visa (two years), and longer-term one (up to four years).

Because foreign players are almost never brought to the A-League on contracts longer than two years due to salary cap and squad restrictions, players could be forced on to the shorter-term visas. In such cases, that will rule out their eligibility to accumulate time spent to contribute towards their application for Australian citizenship and/or permanent residency.

It also means stars such as Bruno Fornaroli of Melbourne City, Sydney FC's Milos Ninkovic, Newcastle Jets' Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Perth duo Diego Castro and Andy Keogh could face delays, or rejections, in any applications to become permanent residents or citizens in the future, casting doubt on their futures in the A-League.

Former Sydney FC captain Terry McFlynn, Central Coast's Nick Montgomery, Adelaide's Iacopo La Rocca and Brazilians Cassio and Henrique all became Australian citizens through the former process. Melbourne star Besart Berisha had his application for citizenship approved and is on the cusp of obtaining his Australian passport, as is Broich.

"There's no doubt that there is potential for the government's changes to the 457 visas to have a seismic and adverse impact on Australian football," PFA chief executive John Didulica said. "There is increased uncertainty around requirements applying to players, particularly those from key markets in South America and Asia. Also, the diminishing capacity to obtain permanent residency and generally extend visas beyond four years means that some of our most iconic players would have been forced out of the competition."