Former A-League champion Melbourne Victory's hopes of building up lucrative, multimillion dollar ties with Dubai have been crushed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The competition's best supported club had made tentative steps towards forging links with the wealthy gulf state, ties that could have seen them staging high profile friendlies against clubs like Barcelona and Liverpool in the Middle East.

But the scourge of the virus, which has caused massive dislocation in the global economy and brought virtually all sport to a standstill, has scuppered those plans, at least for now.

Melbourne Victory has a huge fan base. Credit:AAP

Victory officials travelled to Dubai just before Christmas for the first in what they hoped would be a series of meetings aimed at shoring up commercial opportunities in the region.