Tanner tells it like it is

Football player agent Chris Tanner is a real footballing entrepreneur. His strong views and opinions on the game are often taken not on perception, yet more on his actual experience within the organisation and the grassroots level.

With his expertise ranging from event management, to the development of the many youth internationals all around the world, he is one person who you can trust to have the correct facts on the problems that plight the local game.

Despite his support for the rival Qatar 2022 World Cup bid, it’s hard to find anything to hold against Mr Tanner, as his views on the A-League and his ideas for improvement herald missed opportunities made by the FFA. It’s something football fans have to admit; mistakes have been made, and Tanner makes note of them, and knows how to fix them in this exclusive interview.

Michael Turner: Let’s start with the A-League. We have commenced the dubbed ‘6th Edition’ of the competition in clouds of controversy. Do you think that it has become better as the years progress?
Chris Tanner: No I don’t. The original model was flawed from day one. The bar was set too high and most clubs have not reached it. There was not enough clubs, and not enough markets. The Crawford Report was ignored. Talented players were forced back to state league as clubs paid top money for some players who didn’t deserve it, leaving little money to fill up the rest of their rosters with average players who are now gone from the league. The NYL is ineffective as far as development goes – we need a reserve grade as a bridge between A-League and NYL, playing in the state leagues … just like in most European countries.

Michael Turner: It is known that you disagree with some of the administration aspects of the league in relation to the FFA. What do you believe is the problem with the way the league is run?
Chris Tanner: The needs of the participating clubs and the overall needs of the game are ignored. A-League clubs struggle to engage the community because they aren’t shown how. I believe the Mariners are the best at this.

Michael Turner: If you were put in charge of the A-League taskforce, what ideas and approaches would you propose to your team?
Chris Tanner: Rebuild it with as little disruption as possible. It has to be driven from the ground up, with broad-based membership strategies combined with the commercial drive of majority shareholders.

Michael Turner: Your Western Sydney A-League entity was trumped by one that was less than one month old, whereas your bid was far more advanced in organisation. What was the reasoning given by the FFA for its snub?
Chris Tanner: Who knows? It’s the biggest scandal to befall the current organisation. Now, a former senior FFA staffer says that “the licence did not go to the most deserving” … we all knew that. Now, Sydney Rovers are reported to be struggling. Our model was the best, and is still active. We hope to speak to Mr. Lowy soon, to see if we can pick up where we left off.

Michael Turner: You were involved with bringing major English Premier League club Everton FC to Australia. What exactly was your role in this tour?
Chris Tanner: Not a major role really. We consulted on a number of things that had to be done. I understand the tour promoters suffered heavy losses. We proposed a number of exciting strategies, which they ignored.

Michael Turner: Do you think that tours like this are important to the growth of football in Australia, and do you think that more like this will occur in the future?
Chris Tanner: They can be … if they are done properly, that’s the key. It’s not about relying on big names and brands to sell tickets … like A-League clubs, you still have to engage the community … it’s called marketing.

Michael Turner: The view has been shared that the game would have been better received at the Sydney Football Stadium, with a capacity crowd. What is your view on that issue?
Chris Tanner: Rubbish. ANZ Stadium is the best facility in the country by a long way. The Everton game should have had a crowd of 50,000 plus … you can’t do that anywhere else in Sydney. The fact that the potential of the event was not realised on that occasion is not a reason to go to the tired old SFS.

Michael Turner: Back in 2003, controversial player agent Bernie Mandic released a small slur against you in an interview to ‘The Age’. “He’s very proud of the fact that he’s a licensed players’ agent and I’m not. He’s on the Soccer Australia Licensed Agents website and the FIFA website.” This is a long past issue, but what is your stance on unlicensed player agents?
Chris Tanner: Ah yes … the Mandic debate. You can represent players without a licence as long as FIFA regulations are observed. In most instances they are not. The unlicensed guys that ignore FIFA regulations are putting their clients’ careers at risk. They cannot help them through legal channels.

Michael Turner: Are you and Mandic back on level terms?
Chris Tanner: We liaise on issues occasionally. I have no problem with Bernie, and I think at the time he was misinformed about issues concerning he and I.

Michael Turner: Your Company, ‘Zenith Sports and Event Management’ deals with events, however it also states you deal with players as their agent. As a licensed player agent by FIFA, how many players have you sent in to the system? Any high achievers?
Chris Tanner: Mate, truly I have lost count. We do a lot for young players who are prepared to listen, work hard, and be patient. These days, young players are focussing on the far distant future and their Wembley appearances, and not tomorrow’s training session. The high achievers are the ones who want to follow the correct path … like our client Steven Lustica for example. Steven is one of many youth internationals on our books. We have Aussie, Belgian, Emirati, English, Saudi Arabian and numerous African youth internationals on our books.

Michael Turner: What are your thoughts on Football NSW’s Project 22?
Chris Tanner: Great move. Football NSW is the country’s leader in football management innovation. They leave FFA for dead.

Michael Turner: Do you think it makes it easier for a player to enter the system, so-to-speak?
Chris Tanner: No. But it makes it easier for the system to identify them.

Michael Turner: It is now known that you are working with the Qatari Bid Team for the 2022 World Cup. Since you are bidding against the Australian bid, what is your view on local bid?
Chris Tanner: We are not working with them … just supporting them as we believe the Qatar bid is the best for football in Asia, and globally as well. The local bid is unfortunately tarnished with controversy. We are a racist nation and I don’t think that will go over with football as easy as it did with the Olympics. We also don’t have the infrastructure for a tournament of that size, nor do we need a 40,000 seat stadium in Newcastle.

Michael Turner: Do you believe that the issues the Australian bid has come against have sufficiently jeopardised the bid, to rule it out? (The AFL, the bribe controversy)
Chris Tanner: I hope so.

Michael Turner: The Qatari bid team has taken in the basic idea that ‘if South Africa can do it, so can we’. Do you believe that the Qataris have a strong bid assembled?
Chris Tanner: What we saw of it on my recent trip tells me they can host a sensational World Cup. Their bid will be a glowing example of stadia technology.

Michael Turner: Sepp Blatter officially endorsed the Qatari bid, “The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organise the tournament” before going on to praise the country’s progress. As Blatter has also endorsed many of the other 2022 and 2018 bids, what is the credibility of his statement?
Chris Tanner: He’s 110% correct regarding the Arab world. Football has the opportunity to build bridges between our societies, and I believe FIFA should look at this.

Michael Turner: Footballing pundits have previously stated that the issues of Israel and alcohol will render the bid obsolete; however the obvious enthusiasm shown by the Qatari government has been shown by its ability to overlook these issues in order to host the competition. Do you believe things like these will be some of the major stumbling blocks?
Chris Tanner: No, I had plenty to drink in Dubai last month. Our ignorance makes us presume that our Arab brothers are intolerant. It is not the case.

Michael Turner: One other issue that will cause the bid team some problems is the weather in Qatar. In order to overcome this, it has been stated that a Qatari World Cup would be ambitiously staged indoors, with huge, high tech state of the art air conditioned stadia, to emulate the conditions of a European spring. Is this the approach the bid team will be taking?
Chris Tanner: I have seen plans for magnificent stadia. I sincerely hope they get the nod.

Michael Turner: Slightly off topic now, almost 20 years ago, you were the Marketing Manager of the now defunct NRL entity the ‘North Sydney Bears’. Do you think that it is great that the side will possibly be re-entering the competition as the ‘Central Coast Bears’?
Chris Tanner: We all live in hope on this one, as you are always a Bears fan, and I was lucky enough to work there, as my brother and father were players there. It’s about tradition … FFA please note.

Michael Turner: Mr Tanner, Thank you for your time.
Chris Tanner: You are welcome.