![Canberra United's Michelle Heyman celebrates scoring the opener in the club's now-stripped win against Sydney FC. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Canberra United's Michelle Heyman celebrates scoring the opener in the club's now-stripped win against Sydney FC. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/RXMuw2JbrrS7ELSxSY9rkR/82529eaf-df21-4ed1-8eeb-06b82811f207.jpg/r0_563_5508_3672_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Canberra United's finals hopes all hang on a positive outcome in their appeal of a controversial points deduction.
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The problem is, they still don't know when their appeal hearing will even take place after lodging it early last week under Football Australia's grievance procedures.
The appeal process is known to take up to four weeks, but with so few games left and sixth-placed Canberra still able to influence the A-League Women final top-four standings, time is of the essence.
Football Australia told The Canberra Times a hearing date had "yet to be confirmed", though it was "likely to be this week".
![Canberra United head coach Njegosh Popovich. Picture by Karleen Minney Canberra United head coach Njegosh Popovich. Picture by Karleen Minney](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168198572/5f1a7d8c-fee9-47c9-bb01-8980d6a79383.jpg/r0_569_5568_3712_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
That's little comfort to United, who have carried the burden of the points deduction for a fortnight already. The club denies any wrongdoing.
Two weeks ago the Australian Professional Leagues docked three points from Canberra's total as well as two goals, after claiming United made a fourth substitute breach in the final minutes of their 2-1 win over Sydney FC back in February.
Sydney moved up the ladder as a result while United's rise was halted by the deduction, and it put much more pressure on Canberra to win their subsequent games.
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Canberra coach Njegosh Popovich won't admit the appeal process has been a distraction, but after their 1-1 draw on Saturday against Melbourne Victory, he did say now they simply cannot make the finals without getting those three points back.
United will now continue their nervous wait while they fight to keep their campaign alive in the two remaining games of the regular season, starting with top-of-the-table Western United on Saturday, and third-placed Melbourne City to come the following Sunday.
United sits currently five points behind fourth-placed Victory (27 points), with Perth leapfrogging Canberra on goal difference on the weekend to move into fifth, also on 22 points.
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