Socceroos boss Bert van Marwijk says he is not paying for the extra assistant coaches employed for Australia's World Cup campaign.
As the green and gold have been preparing for their opening World Cup match against France in Kazan on Saturday, reports emerged Van Marwijk was fronting up the salaries of a Dutch entourage of support staff, including team assistant coach and son-in-law Mark van Bommel.
FFA sources ratified the report by confirming they wouldn't be paying the wages of the extra staff, but van Marwijk made it clear the money was not coming out of his own pocket.
"He denies that he pays for those guys himself," experienced Dutch journalist Johannes Kapteijns said to the 442FM podcast.
"He says it's not true. I think they're being paid, but I don't know how.
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"Maybe the FFA said they have some budget and you can have this part, but if you want these assistants maybe your part is a little smaller.
"I think the main reason, especially on such a short term project, is that he wants to work on it with people he knows very well.
"He said that with just a blink of the eye, these guys know exactly what I want and we don't have so much time to lose.
"But you have got a very big staff now."
After taking on Les Bleus in their first match, the Socceroos face Denmark in Samara and Peru in Sochi as they attempt to qualify for the knockout stages.
