Central Coast Mariners denied plea to shift Asian Champions League match back a day The Mariners' plea to shift their ACL match against Suwon Bluewings has been denied. ASIAN football chiefs have rejected a plea from the Central Coast Mariners to move their Champions League tie with Suwon Bluewings in Korea back 24 hours, with Graham Arnold's squad facing a sprint across Asia should they make the A-League's grand final. Suwon face the Mariners on Tuesday April 23, just 48 hours after the grand final, and had sought to have the game moved back to the Wednesday. But with ACL games locked into broadcast schedules the request was rejected, with AFC officials only willing to grant the Mariners permission to arrive in Suwon the day before the game. Usual AFC regulations require a team to be in their opponent's city two days beforehand - impossible for the Mariners should they make the grand final. It comes after Football Federation Australia told the clubs the A-League grand final would be held on Sunday April 20, to maximise TV ratings and avoid competition with other codes. Grand finals will be held on a Sunday for the duration of the new four-year broadcast deal, meaning clashes with ACL fixtures will be an annual challenge for those clubs competing if they are also in the A-League finals. Clubs only receive the final fixture list for the ACL in January, with the A-League season well under way. So far FFA has proven resistant to moving games to give ACL sides more recovery time. The Mariners face Sydney on Saturday looking to seal a top two spot and secure the break that would bring at the start of the finals.