Steven Lowy finds himself under pressure from all quarters and it’s going to be the fight of his life.
With recent events in Sydney many are calling for Lowy to leave saying that his leadership of FFA is now untenable. But who actually has both the power and the motive to remove him?
There are a number of players involved including PFA, AAFC, the state federations, the A-League clubs and FIFA.
PFA
Professional Footballers Australia are a largely powerless group unless they organise a players strike. Therefore, this is unlikely.
AAFC
The AAFC are a much more significant group made up of over a hundred clubs, many from the old NSL. FFA currently ignore them for the most part and have no reason not to unless FIFA decide to weigh in. The AAFC have little real power on their own.
State federations
While there might be a few coup plotters from among the states Steven Lowy has already successfully headed off two attempts to change the voting structure in the FFA congress that they were behind.
For now at least, Lowy still seems to be in control. Just.
A-League clubs
This is the pointy end where things get serious. The wealthy owners of the A-League clubs have made substantial losses and want a return on their investment. They don’t want to give money to FFA as an act of charity.
If they decide to walk away or try and start their own league things could get ugly. But although they might have power due to their wealth, FFA still have options.
If they take their money and walk away from the game altogether FFA can replace them. There are a number of expansion bids that could take the place of some of the current teams.
At the moment there are seven teams in the major cities and three regional ones. Newcastle, Central Coast and Wellington aren’t vital and are each replaceable. Melbourne City are also replaceable with Dandenong and Geelong both being options.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory and Adelaide United are all big teams in major cities and new owners could buy their licenses at knock down prices if they want to and there is still plenty of interest from people looking for new expansion teams. They could just buy an existing team instead.
Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers are all blue chips – there’s no doubt over interest in them.
If their owners did walk away however, Jia Yuan could buy Wanderers as they wanted to originally and Westfield could buy Sydney FC. I don’t know who’d want to buy Melbourne Victory but I’m sure someone must like Melbourne.
But if the current owners walk away altogether then there’s no chance to recoup past losses. If a new deal comes into place that’s better they could still turn a profit. It just might take a while.
If Lowy wants to play hardball with the clubs individually, he can.
However, if they decide to break away and start their own league then I don’t know how much Lowy can do.
It would also be interesting to see which teams become part of it. Most would assume they would all join together but Newcastle, Central Coast and Wellington are all just dead weights who could be dropped.
After that three new teams could come in. The six-year TV deal with Fox narrows down where they will be.
According to the Herald Sun, “It is understood that $5m of the deal hinges on A-League expansion, with that money only forthcoming if new teams are added in Melbourne, Sydney and/or Brisbane.”
So the new league teams could be Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory and Adelaide United. Plus Southern Expansion, Dandenong and Brisbane City/Gold Coast United*.
Then they could copy the Swiss Super League by playing four times over for a 36-round, 180 match season up from 135 at present.
12 derbies in Sydney, 12 derbies in Melbourne and four derbies in Brisbane for 28 in total across the season providing a very attractive TV product with the Les Murray Cup replacing the finals as the focal point of the year.
Can Lowy survive against all that?
Gold Coast United should hire David Zdrilic who’s currently at RB Leipzig as their head of Beach Soccer and Foot Volley to start competitions and leagues all up and down the beaches there. If football takes the beach, it takes the Gold Coast.
FIFA
These are the one’s with real power.
FIFA have the power to throw out the current FFA board and install a normalising committee until a vote for new leaders can be held. But they don’t necessarily have to.
PFA, AAFC, the state federations and the A-League clubs all want a say in how the sport is governed but administration of the sport is still is matter for FFA not FIFA.
FIFA still have to balance changing the congress voting structure with the good of the game in Australia.
The fundamentals all look good.
The sport itself has come leaps and bounds since the end of the NSL. Australia has qualified for three successive world cups and the A-League is well attended by world standards. Currently the A-League is the 15th highest attended top flight worldwide and if the A-League was in Europe we would have the eighth highest.
In terms of participation, the federal government’s Ausplay survey at the end of 2016 showed that football had increased it’s participation by 46 percent between 2001 and 2016, while AFL was down -1 per cent and rugby league was down -27 per cent. rugby union fell -63 per cent down to just 55,000 players (even before Western Force were cut).
Futsal now has over 100,000 players which is double that of rugby union so there’s even potential there in the future for a new national league, especially if they can poach sponsors from rugby.
There’s also a six year A-League TV rights deal with Fox that at least ensures stable funding for it’s duration.
Looking at the state of the game it looks quite healthy. The only reason to change the board is so that special interest groups can promote their own agendas. But FIFA would have to balance replacing the current board with the good of the game in general.
All Steven Lowy has to do is show them what the NSL was like and then show them a highlights reel of the A-League. Would FIFA want what happened to the NSL to happen to the A-League?
They can send the game back to what it was like during the NSL which was old and busted, or they can leave the current FFA congress voting structure in place so that Lowy can continue to administer the A-League which is the new hotness.
Fans
But the biggest and most important group to consider but who weren’t even in the room were the fans.
No fans. No football.
The fans are the ones who make professional football possible because they’re the customer. All too often fans are ignored but maybe they should have the biggest say. Anyone who pays annual fees that go to FFA or anyone who is a member of a club should be allowed to vote on the leadership of FFA.
That would be real democratic practice. FIFA can’t argue with that.
Where to next for Lowy?
A number of groups are arrayed against him but he does have options and cards left to play.
He might be the underdog but I wouldn’t count him out just yet.
Oddly enough the best way that he might have to stay in power is to be voted in by the fans. It’s easy to criticise him but apart from all the factions wanting him gone what can they actually agree on beyond that? The candidates would all end up squabbling over an amount of money that’s already too small to meet each of their needs individually.
How would that that look to the voters?
I mean if the owners of the A-League clubs want to increase their share of the pie then where does the money come from? Junior development and subsidies for lowering fees?
Then another candidate might say that they want to increase money for junior development and for lowering fees. Will the owners be happy with that?
Oh, and what about the W-League? Don’t forget the Matildas!
Disunity as they say in politics, is death. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Lowy could present himself against this backdrop as balanced and fair with a bit of a scare campaign about foreign owners and the old NSL clubs thrown in for good measure.
Not everyone likes his leadership style or how he got the job but the game is at least stable and growing and is meeting targets set out in a long term strategic Whole Of Football Plan. That’s a much safer option than voting for divided and self interested parties who are driven by short term thinking.
If it came down to a vote I think that Lowy might actually win.
He might just do a Bradbury.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Fifa puts pressure on FFA to find end to crisis before November deadline - World governing body dispatches first piece of feedback to Steven Lowy - Fifa letter implies there are no plans to disband FFA board at this stage Fifa has placed the future of Australian football firmly back in Football Federation Australia’s court and issued a subtle reminder it is not a stakeholder in the political reform process. It comes as the players’ union on Wednesday wrote to state member federations stating it had received member backing for a compromised expanded congress model in which it would get only one vote. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/23/fifa-puts-pressure-on-ffa-to-find-end-to-crisis-before-november-deadline?CMP=twt_a-sport_b-gdnausport_c-au_g-3
mattq
Roar Rookie
got to say northerner, nemesis has this one. AR used the example of FFA defunding the national futsal team as evidence against Nick's comment that futsal is ripe for a national competition. What nemesis is indicating that, at least on a participant level, it may well be able to support a national competition. of course a lot more to work through like funding, organisation etc. but certainly the FFA withdrawing national team funding would have zero impact on whether a national comp could be established.
mattq
Roar Rookie
i'm pretty sure you're correct that the clubs don't want to run football they want an independent a-league. but if that is the case, why are they pushing for more power through the FFA congress? Why aren't they pushing harder on the new operating model the FFA is working on? Like I said, I'm sure you're correct, it is absolutely logical, what seems illogical is the way in which the clubs are going about it...
Nemesis
Guest
@northerner, the reason I get so frustrated with you is because you have zero knowledge (you actually admit you have zero konwledge) of the underlying football market, but you try to provide SWOT analysis on the football market. Added to this, you said you're a recent immigrant to Australia, so you knowledge of the Australian football market will be non existent. FFA support for the Futsal National Team has NOTHING - ZERO, ZILCH, NADA - impact on whether people play Futsal at their local indoor centres. I was playing Futsal back in the 1980s BEFORE FIFA even held a Futsal World Cup. When AUS has played in the Fustal World Cup, I've tuned in, but I wouldn't know any of the players. I know Tom Rogic played one tournament. So, my answer is an emphatic: NO. The FFA funding the Futsal National Team has no impact on whether Aussies play Futsal. I don't care that you are clueless about Football. The annoying part is people who are clueless about a subject, trying to lecture those who are intimately involved with a subject. Maybe, in your peer group, you and your friends enjoy uninformed discussions. I do not. If I don't have knowledge on a subject, I ignore the discussion. Or, if I'm remotely interested in learning about the subject being discussed, I sit in the background and absorb what is being said.
northerner
Guest
Nemesis - I think there's a pretty basic issue here, and one you need to get your head wrapped around. Amazingly, the fact that I disagreed with you is not because I didn't understand what you said, it is because I thought you were wrong. You think that supporting the national team has nothing to do with supporting the sport. I think that the high profiles of the Socceroos and the Matildas has been an important element in the growth of interest in football, both by participants and by spectators. Not the only element, but an important one. Do you think otherwise? And funding of that team has been one of the key jobs of the FFA. So, I think that funding the Futsal national team to compete in upcoming international competitions could/would have contributed to that version of the sport as well. It certainly would have given the grass roots of the game something to aim for. That's gone now, and Futsal is the weaker for it. I stand by that opinion.
The Auteur
Guest
Can we ban Nick and that Christian boy from ever writing articles here again?
Nemesis
Guest
Rubbish. You didn't read what I said, or your read, but don't have the aptitude to understand that choice of words matter. FFA providing money for a National Team has absolutely nothing to do with FFA providing funds for that sport. The funds invested in the Futsal National Team were given to sending players to international tournaments. So the money went to: - the airline industry - hotels - transport to/from airports - food - travel incidentals (medical support, insurance, etc.) The money was not given to the sport that is Futsal. If you don't see the difference, then you don't understand funding for sport.
Midfielder
Guest
N So very very very true. Good example past editors would spent time looking at articles submitted and correct and publish. I was reasonably proud of my record and posts i I received since the new editor arrived when T left, its gone down hill. I have submitted maybe 4 or 5 articles none published and on 442 the same topics are running off the page. Former editors much better kept in check the multi AFLer ... this site is sadly losing what was a high quality discussion group and Nem as you suggest I suspect our new editor is either swamped or into other codes something this site used to stand out in i.e. its support for football.
northerner
Guest
Yet another attempt to divert the discussion. You said the FFA had never contributed to Futsal. I simply pointed out that the FFA funding, minimal though it was, did exist at the elite level for Futsal, and now it doesn't. The argument you've put up - that futsal is a popular sport with more adherents than other football codes - is irrelevant- no one suggested otherwise. What the discussion is about is whether the FFA has ever funded futsal - it has - and whether it has withdrawn the funding - it has. Classic red herring on your part. End of story.
pacman
Guest
Sorry Nick, but I can only agree with the other posters. Absolute incoherent rubbish.
Nemesis
Guest
Who said anything about the National Team? Futsal is an extremely popular sport. According to the last ABS Survey, as many adult Aussie play Futsal as outdoor Aussie Rules, or outdoor cricket. And more adult Aussies play Futsal than Rugby Union & Rugby League combined.
northerner
Guest
The FFA funded futsal at the elite level. Until this year. http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/07/05/futsalroos-funding-slash-necessary-says-ffa
Nemesis
Guest
I shouldn't really comment on (or read) AR click-bait responses but hey, I’ve got 10 seconds "despite the FFA defunding futsal entirely" - utter GARBAGE. I played Futsal for about 15yrs & FFA never provided $1 the sport, so they can't "defund" something they never funded.
marcel
Guest
No one is ever going to form a breakaway league in Australia..simply impossible.. For reasons even the most casual fan should already know.
Nemesis
Guest
I'd be surprised if this website's editors have a clue about this issue, or any football issue. Not meaning to be disrespectful, just an observation that there seems little insightful football input from those in charge.
Waz
Guest
I have to say this is the worst article I think I've ever read on this site. I'm surprised it even got published.
AR
Guest
I should't really comment on (or read) these Symonds-click-bait "articles", but hey, I've got 3 mins. 4 standouts... the author suggests... 1) Melb City can simply be 'replaced' by Dandenong or Geelong. Easy. Next. 2) futsal may be ripe for a national competition - despite the FFA defunding futsal entirely. 3) the current 6 year broadcast deal gives the ALeague competition stability - despite the broadcast deal being arguably the most fatal move the FFA made - making expansion impossible, and galvanising the clubs against the FFA. 4) to save his skin, all Lowy needs to do is show FIFA some NSL highlights, and they will immediately restore him as future keeper of the superior ALeague model. There's too many others to mention.
Nemesis
Guest
Yes. Good point about FIFA. I stopped reading the article when the 2nd Group mentioned was AAFC & I realised the writer doesn't understand this issue at all.
Waz
Guest
Correct. Apart from FIFA of course who could normalise him out of power lol
Midfielder
Guest
Nick Wow, what an effort almost your entire article is at best low level base info. Suggest you do some research away from the paradigm of using AFL & NRL thinking because that's how it came across to me. At its simplest there are only two issues at hand. 1] The voting system to select the people i.e. board to develop Football who in turn will appoint a CEO to implement their plans. 2] The structure of the system the above board will take us too....stay with the current close system of franchise / License's or take us to a more traditional FIFA based model with P & R..... where the A-League would become totally independent and run itself. Point two is complex, and has different groups with different ideas.... Point one has almost universal support.