Football Federation Australia, the national governing body for soccer, has defended commercial broadcaster Network Ten in a row over Ten showing advertisements during play in matches of Australia soccer’s A-League, especially during substitutions.

After showing two Saturday night matches, in a deal with the FFA and pay-television’s Fox Sports, Ten has been the subject of criticism by fans on social media for inserting advertising during matches.

However, the FFA told Four Four Two: “It is not unusual for ads to be shown during breaks in play as part of sports coverage on commercial television. It’s the first time the Hyundai A-League has been shown live on commercial free-to-air television.

“FFA is delighted to be bringing the Hyundai A-League to a new audience live on Saturday nights via Network Ten. We believe this will help to grow our game in Australia.”

Fox Sports signed a new six-year A$346-million ($255-million) rights contract with the governing body in December, before agreeing a sub-licensing deal worth around A$2 million a year in June, for Ten's One channel to simulcast the Saturday night A-League fixture, plus all finals live for the next two seasons.

For the past three seasons, free-to-air broadcaster SBS had shown one A-League game on Friday evenings, plus delayed coverage of the finals and the Socceroos’ matches.

The FFA decided not to take action against Australian striker Tim Cahill, after the player made a ‘T’ gesture thought to refer to a sponsor, a travel agency, after scoring a crucial goal for Australia in a World Cup qualifying game against Syria last week.

The FFA said: “We don't believe Tim’s breached any laws.”

However, Cahill might not be in the clear after Fifa said that it is “reviewing and analysing the reports from the referees and the match commissioners for all matches in Fifa competitions,” adding that “any events which require further attention may be communicated accordingly.”