Australian international Daniel Arzani is expected to avoid sanctions from club Melbourne Victory after pictures circulated of him playing for an amateur team in Sydney.
Arzani played in a sixth division match for junior club Coogee United last Saturday.
Victory declined to comment but told AAP that Arzani's behaviour would be addressed when players return to pre-season training later this week.
The Eastern Suburbs Football Association (ESFA) also declined to comment but said it was investigating claims that Arzani had played as a substitute for Coogee United. ESFA rules state players must be amateurs and duly registered with the league.
While Arzani is not expected to be fined for his actions, Victory's new manager Patrick Kisnorbo is not pleased with his behaviour, and it would be unseemly for the 25-year-old to risk injury by playing for an amateur team on a rain-soaked pitch.
The seven-capped Australian international was plagued by injuries early in his career but only recently returned to the national team under coach Graham Arnold, earning a call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine in June.
It was Arzani's first cap in nearly six years and came after a stellar season with Victory in the men's A-League. Having been recalled to the Australian national team, Arzani credits outgoing Victory coach Tony Popovich with helping him regain the form that once made him one of Australia's most coveted young players.
“The biggest benefit I got from working under my boss was [Popovic] “The mental aspect of the game has been important this season,” Arzani said in May. “The team and the environment I was in this year really helped me.”
“We were very competitive, very professional and just a really great bunch of guys.
“Everyone has been so supportive and helped me so much, so I'm in a really good place now.”
Arzani emerged as a teenage prodigy and became the youngest player to feature in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, before moving to Premier League giants Manchester City at the age of 19, just months after the striker's departure.
However, Arzani's time in Europe was marred by injuries. Manchester City arranged a two-year loan deal for him to Celtic as soon as he arrived in the UK, but the teenager ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament just 20 minutes into his debut. Nearly two years passed before Arzani made another first-team appearance, this time to FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. However, after loan spells to Denmark and Belgium, Manchester City did not renew his contract and Arzani returned to the A-League in July 2022.
