Should Australia win the Asian Cup final against South Korea at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, it will mean they are the region's reigning champions of club and international football, as well as being past female Asian champions.
Australia has also proven a dominant force at World Cup qualification time, twice qualifying for the global showpiece event – and is thus seen to be "taking away" a spot from the rest of the confederation.
Aspirational Middle East nations, already behind the likes of Japan and South Korea in their football development, and also concerned by the rise of China and eventually India, see their international exposure being affected by Australia's involvement.
But speaking to Fairfax Media, FFA chief executive David Gallop was taken aback by the revelations. "We were extremely surprised to hear of these press reports from west Asia.
We are newcomers to AFC but our commitment to participate in competitions, membership of important AFC committees and general sharing of ideas and programs increases every year," he said. "We celebrate the diversity of the Asian region and this tournament has shown our contribution can go beyond football to create and foster social and political bridges between key trading partners in the region."
Gallop said Australia also contributed to the AFC economically and said membership of Asia would pave the way for broader links in the future. "Importantly, Australia is also in the top five markets for television rights in the entire confederation," he said. "It has been educational for Australians and Australia's multiculturalism has been on show. We have educated over 50,000 children about Asia through our Asian Cup primary school course."
Oh dear. Nobody loves us. 
