- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Call it what you will – a fit and proper test, due diligence or corporate responsibility – but if you’re going to sell someone a franchise, common sense dictates that you check the background of the person you’re selling to.
Do they have the means to run it? Have they had any issues with businesses in the past? Do they have sound cash flow and a sustainable business plan?
As a business, you really don’t want to tarnish your reputation, your brand, by associating with people who will cause your organisation sustained damage.
The FFA seem to have managed to get themselves into just such a situation with the long-standing and ongoing debacle that is Brisbane Roar. Repeatedly the ‘governing body’ of the sport in Australia has sent out show cause notices to the club.
Fail to pay the playing and back room staff – receive a show cause notice.
Fail to honour contracts with suppliers or landlords – receive a show cause notice.
Employ a club CEO who doesn’t seem up to scratch – receive a show cause notice.
Rescind the contracts offered to the W league squad by the aforementioned CEO…
The FFA have repeatedly stated that their hands are tied when it comes to removing the licence of the club but those ties are ones created by their own rules and regulations.
Even when they have the set themselves up to hand down punishments they seem reluctant to do so. The recent backtracking on flares being released in the Melbourne and Sydney derbies is a fine example. And that seems to be the crux of the situation.
The FFA and, by default, the A-League have a plan. The plan is to grow revenue streams and develop the league, forcing it into the mainstream sporting consciousness. That ideal has to be respected.
Much as the Tim Cahill omnipresence may grate and Yoshi is rapidly reaching the end of his use by date as a promotional tool there is an intention there to raise the media footprint of the game and that should be applauded.
The problem though is a deeper one. The constant glossing over of issues affecting the game leads to disenfranchisement. People that have become emotionally invested in the clubs they follow only have limited amounts of perseverance and gallows humour left in reserve.
The time for hollow words has long passed. The FFA need to show some actual leadership and force the Brisbane issue. The constant harping on about expanding the league seems rather optimistic when they governing body can’t responsibly oversee the clubs it already has on board.
A lot of good people are still involved with the Roar, both on and off the pitch. A lot of good people have left the club, forced out by the ever present problems stemming from the mismanagement of the Bakries. People with skills and a passion for football are walking away from the game and this doesn’t just impact the Roar but the whole of football.
The same issues are being constantly repeated and have been for several years. Just as you can tell the changes in the seasons by the length of the daylight you can expect a non-payment of wages issue to herald the start of the off season.
The latest farce with the contracts offered to the W league squad may well be the straw that breaks the will of many supporters. To save a reported $45,000 players that signed in good faith, many turning down better offers from elsewhere, the club have appeared horrendously mismanaged once more.
There are calls for more supporters to attend the first W-League game of the season in a show of solidarity and support for the players. A call that will no doubt be answered by people that care about the club and the staff, both on and off the pitch.
It’s about time the FFA did the same.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.