Western Sydney Wanderers' opponents in the Asian Champions League final put one Australian football club offside this week after pulling out of a four-day deal to train at Lambert Park in Leichhardt after just one training session. The Saudi giants were scheduled to train from Monday to Thursday at the newly renovated ground before moving their final session on Friday to the venue of Saturday's final first leg, Pirtek Stadium in Parramatta.

Before arriving in Australia on Sunday night, Al-Hilal arranged a deal with the owners of the ground, APIA Leichhardt. They trained for approximately 90 minutes on Monday before notifying APIA they would be cancelling their booking due to the surface being "too flat" and did not pay the full amount despite the hosts committing to cleaning, maintenance and additional staff costs in preparation for their high-profile guests.

Al-Hilal were billed $2200 including GST in hiring fees for four days but paid just $1000 after one day, including a self-declared cancellation fee.

Al-Hilal confirmed they changed the venue of their training base from the high-grade synthetic turf of Lambert Park to the grass texture of Wilson Park in the Olympic Park precinct to prepare for a similar surface to that of Pirtek Stadium. "We wanted to mix training because of the grass," a club spokesman said. 

The move of training venue over such small detail is another sign of the meticulous nature of Al-Hilal's preparation for the final after the club splashed out on lavish accommodation for their players and the hiring of a full-time private security firm. The move away from Lambert Park occurs after the venue recently underwent a $3.5m upgrade which includes the construction of a state-of-the-art synthetic grass playing field imported from Italy that led to the ground being used as a neutral venue for FFA Cup matches and the National Premier League grand final.

When contacted by Fairfax Media, APIA Leichhardt president Tony Raciti said his club pulled out all stops to make Al-Hilal feel at home in the heart of Sydney's inner-west. He was disappointed with the manner in which they withdrew without fixing a bill that would be almost insignificant on the balance sheet of one Asia's richest clubs.

"We made sure the facilities were prepared and the field was brushed because Lambert Park is one of the only synthetic fields that contains natural dirt," Raciti said.  "We needed to hire grounds maintenance to brush the synthetic turf, cleaners for dressing rooms and the toilets and to get everything in order. Unfortunately the club was notified that they [Al-Hilal] pulled out because the ground was too flat and it would not reflect a similar scenario they would playing on in the proper game against the Wanderers at Parramatta."

Meanwhile, it is understood the Saudi club are unhappy the first leg of the Asian Champions League semi-final will be played at Pirtek Stadium instead of the larger and more modern venue of ANZ Stadium in Olympic Park. The club is understood not to be satisfied with the facilities of the venue, in particular corporate and VIP facilities which will be occupied by members of the Saudi royal family attending the match.