The Football Federation Australia (FFA) is a distracted organisation that is unable to make strategic decisions to improve the footprint of football in this country.
The Board and CEO’s efforts are fully focused on ensuring its preferred model for the FFA Congress – one that does not extinguish its influence.
To achieve this model, it is fighting on all fronts and against most of the sport’s key stakeholders.
These issues are hurting the game at a time when a new A-League campaign is about to start and calls to expand the national competition are becoming louder.
This is troubling for fans of the game.
It feels like only yesterday when football reached its highest point – the Socceroos finally qualifying for their first World Cup finals since 1974. Australia had finally found the sporting equivalent of the holy grail.
Domestically, the sport’s governing body has been able to successfully deliver a new national competition. Importantly, it has been able to increase the average crowds at A-League games since 2007 while the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby crowds have declined over the same time period. That has been no small achievement.
It has also established a successful national women’s league long before the AFL or rugby league.
Football was seen as being a genuine threat to AFL and rugby league.
Not anymore.
There are plenty of strategic problems facing the FFA that need to be resolved quickly.
Only last week, the Socceroos failed to automatically qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Now the Australian team must overcome a convoluted process to make it to Russia.
The failure of the Socceroos adds further weight to the broken youth development system in this country at a time when the FFA decided to close the Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport to save money.
A-League clubs want a greater say in how football in this country is run and how funds are distributed from the TV broadcasting rights. As such, they are calling for greater representation on the FFA Congress.
The FFA has put the expansion of the the A-League in the too hard basket. This is at a time when National Premier League clubs, the second tier competition, want a second division as an avenue to the A-League.
Fans across Australia are also unhappy as they are missing out on football action. There is no access to live A-League games outside capital cities and the Central Coast of NSW.
These are the fans that prop up the state associations and the FFA from their playing fees each year.
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If that was not enough, the FFA CEO, David Gallop, is apparently in contention for the CEO role at ARU.
Surely this would be a backward step in international sport, but it illustrates the growing problems within the FFA and football in this country.
The FFA has also suffered the humiliation of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation intervening in the domestic game by sending a joint delegation to Australia to help resolve the long-standing governance crisis.
The delegation failed to resolve these problems and now the fate of football in this country is potentially in the hand of FIFA’s normalisation committee. FIFA has given the FFA until 30 November to gets its house in order.
Argentina and Guinea have been two recent member states FIFA has had to intervene in through the implementation of the normalisation committee in their domestic leagues. So Australia is not exactly in quality company.
The current problems have haunted football in Australia ever since its existence.
It has seemingly taken less than 15 years for the FFA and the game’s controllers to forget the important recommendations of the thorough review into the governance, management and structure of football in Australia and the governing body, Soccer Australia.
The Guardian has reported that the the states and territories appear collectively subservient to the FFA Board they are supposed to oversee. From a governance perspective, this is troubling and outlines why the congress needs to be expanded.
It is the rising problems of self-interest and political infighting that is again affecting the game.
It is disturbing that we have not seemed to have learned anything from the Crawford Report and the Independent Soccer Review Committee.
Anyone who has read Ross Solly’s book, Shoot Out: Passion and Politics of Soccer’s Fight for Survival in Australia, will understand political infighting, nepotism and incompetence strangled the growth of football in Australia for many years.
Reports suggesting the FFA Board can control the governing body that was put in place by the custodians of the game is very troubling. It suggests that the current structure is no longer effective. It is akin to the tail wagging the dog again.
The FFA is getting bogged down in these governance issues and lobbying for its preferred model while forgetting about the bigger picture.
Will David Gallop be on his way to the ARU? (Photo by Paul Barkley/LookPro)
It was therefore surprising that it has been able to implement an improved collective enterprise agreement for female football players this week.
But other key issues need to be resolved, like the expansion of the A-League, if we want to see football in this country grow.
The A-League has not expanded outside new Melbourne and Sydney franchises since it commenced in August 2005. Two expansion clubs, North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United, had their licenses revoked.
The FFA’s mentality seems to be focused on capital city derbies rather than growing the game across the country.
Some of the current A-League sides are still suffering financial problems. The FFA was unable to secure enough funds from the last broadcasting rights to appease club owners.
If that was not enough, A-League clubs have often struggled in recent Asian competitions. Questions will start to arise as to why our teams are not competitive.
There are also questions about the independence of the FFA board. Media reports talk about the need for members to be sanctioned by Frank Lowy before they are appointed.
Look no further than Steven Lowy AM, son of Frank, who was the inaugural FFA Chairman. He was elected as a director of the Board of FFA in 2015 and went straight into the role of Chairman.
No-one can deny Stephen Lowy is a very competent businessman. But to be elected as Chairman of the FFA without any football experience seems unusual.
It does little to diminish media speculation and innuendo, particularly from the Australian Financial Review, that FFA is the fiefdom of the Lowys.
The passing of the baton from father to son also raises concerns of nepotism in football again.
Anyone who was an avid watcher of football in this country over the last thirty years will have vivid memories of the late Les Murray and Johnny Warren spending hours lambasting the administrators of football in this country during different SBS shows.
While we have not returned to the dark old days of the NSL and Soccer Australia, cracks are appearing in the football and the governing bodies again and this is troubling for football fans.
I am not a governance expert so I do not know the answer for the best model for the FFA Congress. However, futsal and women’s football need a strong voice to ensure appropriate funding and representation.
Clubs and the players also need a voice on the Congress. Therefore, a 9-4-1-1 model should only be adopted if the interests of whole football community are properly represented.
The 9-4-1-1 model will ensure it better addresses the accusations that the FFA is influencing the FFA Congress.
Football is close to crisis point in Australia again. We have failed to automatically qualify for the 2018 World Cup and there are serious concerns about the depth of the talent pool.
Yet the attention of stakeholders is directed at one issue – the appropriate governance model to oversee the game.
It is now time for individuals to put their self-interests to one side and focus on implementing all the key strategic decisions to make football stronger in this country. Not just the interests of a few.
Rolly
Guest
Wollongong wolves want in too .dont forget the south coast .everything is in place .we need fifteen teams in A league . .ten teams too Small and season too short to interest me.
chris
Guest
thats correct AR. I used to go to Redfern oval and watch all 3 grades with my mates. I still go and watch the occasional game. Is that ok?
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
There are many different views on whether this will be good or bad for the game. It looks like the Clubs/PFA have FIFA onside, otherwise FIFA would allow the 9 state federations to decide whatever structure they wanted, since they currently represent 90% of the vote, which is a fair majority! (also noting that each state federation is responsible for all football within their states) Some view it as a positive that the A-League clubs take over football, others may not. Some are of the view that Lowy is confident the so-called Normalisation committee will be relatively compliant. There are some good comments in the TWG article above. I think Wogy Wogovsky hits the nail on the head when he says: To me it is just power struggle between the states and clubs to run football in this country.
Nemesis
Guest
@Alistair Nair Have you seen - actually seen with your own eyes - even one balance sheet, P&L Statement, Cash Flow & all the accompanying notes that accompany the Annual Financial Statements for ALeague clubs? If you have; fine. If you have not; how about you desist from commenting on topics where you are ignorant?
j,binnie
Guest
Alistair - Let me explain simply by citing your actual words written on this site. "I was in Sydney when Aloisi scored his penalty to take Australia to its FIRST WORLD CUP" Please excuse me if I somehow misunderstood those words. Also surprised that you made no comment about my second point which in fact is a sad indictment of the governing bodies, both then and now, when in fact it makes a mockery of the supposed "new" curriculum introduced at great expense in 2009. In long gone previous comments on this site I have seen comments from Socceroos from our so called "Golden Generation" who admitted to having played in small sided games on small pitches in their junior days in the game. As i said before history can be twisted to suit. Cheers jb.
Alistair Nitz
Roar Rookie
Is this for real? I am not going to re-prosecute my point about futsal as we have a difference of opinion. I will make one last point as I am not a going to waste anymore oxygen on it. I wanted to make the point that why does not futsal have a voice on the governing body? Especially since the FFA can determine its funding. The Socceroos have a voice through the FFA. Women's football need a voice too. I am glad you have a vested interested futsal. It is a fun game. Feel free to google Brisbane Roar and financial troubles and you will find all the evidence you want. Even their own supporters group wanted the team owners removed. You asked for evidence on Adelaide. I provided it. They were forced to pay player superannuation or they would have been sanctioned. So I am wrong or you just wear blinkers! Because financially strong clubs don't make their player payments. Are you telling me that Central Coast Mariners have a strong balance sheet? When was there last marquee player? Which big name players did they recruit last year? The PA deal to China was totally different. That was aimed at tapping Chinese sponsors given crowded Aust market. PA had a $4million budget to put on the game. What did CCM have for the Canberra games? They did not even make it a long term relationship because they could not get convince the ACT Government to provide additional funds to play games in Canberra this season and beyond. You should be careful when you are calling the kettle black.
Alistair Nitz
Roar Rookie
I am glad you are history buff, but I do not understand your first point about 1974. I was making a reference about Australia qualifing for the WC in 2005 for the first time since 1974. I was not complaining about the Socceroos performance in 1974.
duecer
Guest
I think AFL will be worried that participation rates are stagnant, especially when you factor in population growth, but will also consider that there are many other sports and even kids favouring video games over sports, but considering it's only 1% and there is a margin of error of 3%, they may not be overly worried - the huge increase in Football participation naturally makes it look worse. Of more concern would be RL and RU figures, that truly is a huge, huge decrease when taken together with population growth - RU don't have the spare cash but the NRL should be pouring as much as they can to try and salvage grassroots support - once you start losing that support it really is a hard task to turn it around and effectively it gathers pace - so yes, Football is a massive threat to AFL and more so RL and RU.
AR
Guest
Following the bunnies since you were a kid..??!!! I smell a bunny.
Realfootball
Guest
The off season is too long. So much angst as we wait for the football to start.
Realfootball
Guest
Wondered when this would happen. We may regret losing the Lowys from the game, but it looks like Stephen is going down with the ship.
Realfootball
Guest
With you on the yawn.
Nick Symonds
Guest
EVEN BIGGER BREAKING NEWS FIFA starts planning for FFA takeover - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/09/15/fifa-starts-planning-ffa-takeover "The world governing body has identified and approached at least one prospective member in recent weeks for the temporary panel that could replace FFA chairman Steven Lowy and his board. The person is Australian, going some way to allaying fears FIFA could put overseas administrators in charge with no knowledge of the sport's domestic intricacies and issues. FIFA would not comment when asked to confirm if it had begun speaking to potential normalisation committee members. "As a general rule we do not comment on such matters," a FIFA spokesperson told AAP."
Post_hoc
Guest
If Futsal or as you seem more concerned with the Futsalroos are not represented correctly then that is an issue for the state bodies, as far as I am aware the socceroos or the Matildas do not have a representative on the committee but you want the futsalroos to have one? I am really confused what your issue is, is it with how futsal is run in each of the states? Or is ti with funding for the National futsal team? Because representation would not impact that. I also noticed how your ignored other football programs therefore having a representation, such as the pararoos, street football, etc etc etc, why is futsal so special? btw my kids play futsal so i have vested interest. Financial So you are making assumption in this area, you presume Mariners are in financial strife because they hocked so games to the ACT, well if that is a criteria then Port Adelaide is in series strife because they went to China to play a game. Or do you think it might be a team trying to broaden it's market? Then you bring in Adelaide and Brisbane, no evidence for Brisbane, the only evidence was Adelaide which was $80,000 in super payments which were rectified. So fine state your opinion, but unless you can back it up, and you have tried to twice now, and shown to be wrong. You claim the owners were disappointed, yet waffled on about something but again didn't bother identifying any evidence. The point I and others have made about your article, is you seem to want to talk about the Congress issues, which is great, go for it. But you throw in all this other "news" stuff, that on the looks of things the majority of people who have read and now have commentated on your article can't see any connection to the congress at best and in fact is totally irrelevant and in many cases wrong. So think about what you want to write, if it is about the congress, go for it, if it is just to have a whinge and a kick at the FFA then get in line, it appears to be the most popular participation sport behind Football.
Nick Symonds
Guest
The trouble with regional locations is that if they draw low crowds FFA just pull the rug from under them like they did with GCU and the Fury before they get a chance to build themselves up. Out of curiosity, who do you think should be Canberra's A-League team? Canberra City were formed to represent Canberra, much like Canberra United. Do you think they could do a merger? Do you think Canberra United would appeal to more fans if they changed their colours and logo?
chris
Guest
Fair enough. You seem to apportion all blame on governance of the game. No mention of the free rides that other sports get from main stream media to protect their vested interests. No mention of govt funding skewed towards sports with influential lobby groups to the detriment of sports with huge grassroots participation (eg. football and basketball). No mention of the enormous logistical obstacles that confront the FFA in regards to our international teams across all age groups (men and womens). But yes you're right, we all have our own opinions.
Nemesis
Guest
"What we do know is the FFA shut down the centre of excellence to save money and put those costs on the clubs" Huh? Are you suggesting, if the CoE hadn't closed, the ALeague clubs would never operate academies? That's absolutely ridiculous.
j,binnie
Guest
Alistair - Being a bit of a history buff I will correct you on one item ,Australia went to its first World Cup in 1974 using a team of part time players mostly procured from State leagues. They played in a section that contained the eventual World Cup winners ,West Germany, Beckenbaur,Maier, Brietner, Mueller and all, losing 0-3 to the W.Germans, 0-2 to the East Germans and drawing 0-0 with Chile. Also I could mention ,being involved in grassroots football for many years as you claim, I am surprised you did not mention the introduction of small sided games on small pitches as a method of improving junior coaching introduced in 1974/75. Today we are encouraged to believe that these things are the basis of the curriculum ,first introduced in 2011!!!!!. Strange how history can be twisted is it not? I have a photo of myself with my six a side team taken in 2002!!!!! Cheers jb.
Alistair Nitz
Roar Rookie
It is too early to suggest that the football academy run by the clubs will be a more successful model than the CoE. What we do know is the FFA shut down the centre of excellence to save money and put those costs on the clubs
Nemesis
Guest
More CRISIS for football in Australia. FFA are too distracted. Nothing being done. Must be close to the death of football. When will this period of crisis ever end.? BREAKING NEWS Canberra United granted National Youth League licence Full story: http://www.canberraunited.com.au/article/canberra-united-granted-foxtel-national-youth-league-license/1ewu1diyt4mob1jovodcm85ns6