Adelaide United star Craig Goodwin says he refused to answer a question championing the controversial move to award A-League grand final hosting rights to Sydney for the next three years in a promotional video.
Monday's divisive announcement has prompted intense backlash for the Australian Professional Leagues - the body who administer both the A-League Men and Women competitions.
The move has lit a fire under Australian football with many supporter groups planning boycotts and protests at this weekend's games and the players' union - Professional Footballers Australia - calling for reform of the sport's governance.
As part of promotion of the three-year deal with Destination NSW, Goodwin appeared in a video which was supposed to herald the break with the tradition whereby the highest-finishing side to reach the grand final were rewarded with hosting rights.
It gave the impression that he and Sydney FC's ALW striker Remy Siemsen had endorsed the move.
Goodwin, who was a star performer in the Socceroos' recent World Cup exploits, says that was never the case and he didn't back it.
"When they were doing the filming, there were two questions that I was asked and one of them I refused to answer," Goodwin told Channel 10.
"The other question was about what grand finals can do for Australian players.
"The question (I refused to answer) was, 'why do you support this initiative by the APL and the DNSW?' and I didn't want to answer that question because I didn't support it.
"I believe that it's not in the best interest of the fans."
Goodwin's comments came as his side prepared to fly out to face the Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.
Phoenix fan group Yellow Fever announced on Thursday that they are planning to leave their seats at the 20-minute mark of the fixture and sit with Adelaide supporters.
Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory supporters have said they will leave Saturday's derby match at the same stage.
A similar move is afoot with Central Coast Mariners for their game with Sydney FC, whose own active supporters - The Cove - claimed they would boycott the game entirely after meeting with the club's hierarchy earlier this week.
A-League club bosses were in Melbourne on Thursday for their quarterly meeting.
Western Sydney - whose owner Paul Lederer chairs the board which approved the move - claimed the decision was necessary because "the commercial reality for football in this country is still precarious" in a statement published on their website.
