There are no real winners in the latest club versus country row, which highlights just how far apart the FFA and A-League clubs have drifted.
The National Arbitration Tribunal has ruled that A-League clubs must release all players requested for this month’s AFC U-23 Championship in China.
“Going into today’s hearing we believed that we had a strong case to select players from the A-League for national representative teams under the long standing contractual relationship with each A-League club set out in the club participation agreement,” said Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop following the announcement.
“It is not ideal that this Asian Football Confederation tournament falls outside a designated FIFA international window, however, the scheduling is outside FFA’s control.”
He’s right that it’s not ideal the tournament falls outside a FIFA window, although the AFC won’t be unduly troubled given that several of the competing nations are in the midst of their winter break.
And this an AFC which, by and large, has never warmed to Australia’s inclusion.
If they don’t like us now, just imagine what they’d think if we sent a second-string team to what is literally the U-23 Asian Cup.
Yet it’s hard to disagree with former Socceroos shot-stopper Mark Bosnich, who criticised the decision to call up key A-League players midway through the season.
“(I)f you’re trying to promote the A-League as your premier competition, but you continue to decimate it with under-23s and you don’t have international breaks, then it takes away,” Bosnich said on Fox Sports on Saturday.
“The clubs and the fans and the people who watch on TV, in my opinion, are not getting value for money.”
It’s true. And the fact the FFA can’t be bothered to follow the lead of every single major football league on the planet and incorporate international breaks speaks volumes for their lack of football nous.
(Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)
But international breaks wouldn’t have helped here, and it’s not a problem powerful regional rivals like South Korea and Japan have to worry about given that both the K League Classic and J. League are currently between seasons.
Little wonder the likes of Dijon midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon and current Stuttgart striker Takuma Asano used the 2016 tournament as a springboard to bigger and better things.
That doesn’t hold much sway with either Adelaide United chairman Greg Griffin or Central Coast Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp though – the latter of whom calling the AFC U-23 Championship “a meaningless tournament”.
But here’s the thing. Griffin is a former AFL player agent. And before he joined Western Sydney Wanderers and then the Mariners, Mielekamp worked for the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
Both of them understandably want the best for their respective clubs.
Yet both of them view football through the same prism as every other Australian sport, and neither seems willing to acknowledge the global nature of football.
Part of that global nature is tournaments like the AFC U-23 Championship, and if we ever want to forge closer relations with our neighbours in Asia, that means taking tournaments like this one seriously.
This is a squad, it’s worth remembering that has failed to qualify for each of the past two Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro respectively.
It used to be that representing your country was the highest honour a player could earn in any age group, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that some of the players now at the centre of the latest club versus country tussle have already played in the qualifying campaign, and deserve the chance to compete in the finals.
But that qualifying campaign took place outside of the A-League season, and it’s easy to understand why clubs are unhappy to lose their best players.
There are no easy answers here.
But what is certain is that representing your nation should be a huge accolade.
Sadly for football fans, this latest chapter makes it feel more like a horrible chore.
Kangajets
Guest
Watching Newcastle v Sydney tonigjt shows why the A league is so good
reuster75
Guest
Part of the problem in having international breaks is ground availability - as none of the clubs own their own grounds that makes it harder for scheduling as they have to share their games with other codes (execpt Adelaide and Perth). This also plays a role in terms of scheduling for sides involved in Asian Champions League. Also mid week a-league games often aren't well attended in the past (although attendance full stop is an issue at the moment). The debate about whether or not to have an international break should be part of a broader conversation about ground availability.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I will write about what I want, when I want... just as I have done on here for the past nine years.
Redondo
Guest
Mike The A-League is a football competition. The teams in the A-League play football. If you want to say something relevant about the A-League perhaps you should write about A-Leaguers playing football. Couldn’t you try that - at least sometimes. For example, on Wednesday night possibly the best A-League team ever is playing a resurgent regional team in a top-of-the-table clash. Write about that. Your constant focus on crisis and negativity is more like gossip-columnist journalism than football writing.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Yes, they recorded an attendance of 510 on a day they played in a neutral stadium 600 kilometres from Crotone - as stated above. Who cares what crowds Serie A generates anyway? It has nothing to do with Australian football and smacks of you building a straw man around some random topic because you've got nothing relevant to say about the A-League.
Redondo
Guest
Mike What CC posted was factually accurate - he just omitted some details to make a valid point about how selective media coverage can create false impressions. Your rebuttal was actually inaccurate in that you implied that CC’s post was inaccurate. In fact, when Crotone and Palermo were in the same division (last season) they did record an attendance of 510 for one game. Ironically, your initial denial of what CC said simply highlighted the point he was making about selective use of facts.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I used to work for ABC Online. The guys still there are all, by and large, big football fans. The problem remains one of trying to prioritise football content over anything else. It just doesn't generate the hits, which means it falls well down the pecking order behind the more established sports Grandstand has already long covered.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Yes, thanks for the link to a competition I've followed day in, day out since the mid-1990s, but the point remains one of factual accuracy (and the reason Crotone - Palermo drew such a small crowd is because it was played 600 kilometres from Crotone in Pescara, while Crotone's Stadio Ezio Scida was being brought up to Serie A standards, and Pescara already had a team in the top flight). As for the complaints of negativity, I'll simply repeat what I've said before. You guys are part of a small minority of fans who would prefer to bury to their heads in the sand about what's going on in the A-League. That's your choice and you're entitled to make it, but it has no influence whatsoever over anything I decide to write.
PM
Guest
I hope the football community look at this as a positive, didn't we complain that there isn't enough opportunities for young players? This is an opportunity for other players to step up and maybe we may even find the next Tim Cahill or Harry Kewell. If there is proof that we have the talent maybe expansion will happen sooner. Should the clubs who provide these players get compensation? FFA could look into it. Hopefully the players will improve / take their game to the next level when they return so the clubs do benefit in some way.
Ken Spacey
Guest
Had a quick look and perhaps the ABC can explain how some HAL games don't even get reported on their website or alleged football scores icon. AUFC vs CCM boxing day for example. Also note that veteran Whately is leaving and can we just for F###### once not replace him with the endless production line of AFL/NRL hacks who love a beer and a bet and have life sized statues of Black Caviar and Doug Walters in their front yard. Maybe someone who is more 'football"/Basketball/Cycling/Tennis/ oriented or even a woman or someone born after the Beatles broke up... My local ABC is full of AFL hacks and plants getting heaps of air time while Football and cycling literate (we have the only listed pro cycling event) John Thompson Mills is wasted producing shows for known active sokkah haters and a partner of an AFL assistant coach. FYI Aunty the millennium bug was a bit of a fizzer!
Nemesis
Guest
What's the relevance about not being FIFA dates during our OFC dates? These fixtures are not part of the FIFA calendar either. And, I'm pretty sure our youth teams would qualify for World Cups regularly if we were still in Oceania. The question is: how would our Golden Generation teams have fared if they had to qualified via Asia? We know that one of the best Aussie teams ever in 1997 - filled with Golden Generation players in their prime - were eliminated by the 3rd best Asian Nation in a Knock-Out tie for a place at France 1998.
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
During the OFC days I don't believe there were FIFA dates (such as there are today) ... or that the OFC system for qualification (usually a knockout tournament) complied with FIFA international breaks either. Pretty much the NSL based teams were strong enough to get us through the OFC too (and with some ease).
Ken Spacey
Guest
This is exactly why you can't hand power over to Griffin and co. Running the HAL is only part of the gig and much of what the FFA does is unseen and unacknowledged. Being a good citizen in AFC is incredibly important and without that how do we argue that football is the global big deal from the wastelands of Oceania? Interesting to note that while the men's team he runs has had some success the Lady reds are a shadow of the standards being set by their men's team and the march of women's football in Oz. He's whined about running a women's team at a time when that side of things is the light in the darkness of the shadow cast by the AFL. Union officials are entitled to take on BHP management for a fair shake but that doesn't mean they should be running the mining industry.
j,binnie
Guest
Lionheart- Some god points but let's not forget Roar's position in the league table and compare their team structure with that of runaway leaders Sydney.FC. Go back to the much lauded Roar team of AP, how many "youth" players were involved? HAL is a ten team competition with 110 players "running on" every weekend and it is in comparing these teams across the board the question arises ,do you, as a loyal and dedicated fan, want a championship challenging club or a feeder club for the "big boys" of the competition???. Cheers jb
j,binnie
Guest
Waz - As you are well aware there are "many ways to skin a cat" and "playing" with crowd figures is a dangerous area into which to venture, however as one has to start somewhere, a straight out comparison between consecutive seasons tends to give a "starting point" to myriad discussion. At game 64 (almost but not quite halfway) this season the HAL has been watched by 738,830 people At game 64 last season that figure stood at 830,305 so it is factually correct to say the game has "lost " 91,500 paying customers this season. This can also be represented by the figure 1,430 per match, or if you prefer, $43,000 in cold hard cash per game and so can be allocated to a loss of funds for most of the clubs in the HAL. I think the point you and others are trying to make is that losses of this sort and size cannot,or shouldn't be, tolerated, and it is in this area investigation has to start, for such is the conglomeration of who controls what aspect of our game ,it is almost impossible to sort out right from wrong. Game scheduling, ground selection and availability, international tournaments and dates of same,coaching appointments at all levels, overall use of available finances and incomes, the list of "duties" and responsibilities to be overseen by the parent body appears to be almost endless and maybe it is time for another "Crawford Report" to find out who is running what. But one thing is for sure,when crowd figures show a decline of around 11% in just one year then alarm bells should be ringing,not only at FFA level but at every HAL club management structures as well. Now, this is not a negative article, it is a factual article,and as such almost demands some action. jb..
Nick Symonds
Guest
"http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-04-09/a-league-in-turmoil-as-gold-coast-wobbles/2588602" Gold Coast United are back and they're doing things very differently this time. They're putting a lot of focus on community and fan engagement and they're trying to attract sponsorship from China. With the Commonwealth Games coming up, putting the Gold Coast on the world stage, I wouldn't be surprised if they make an A-League bid using it as a springboard for an announcement. https://goldcoastunitedfc.com.au/
Nick Symonds
Guest
A dollar each time and you'll be rich.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Maybe its me... But please explain by saying we have too many negative articles ... this supports FFA as you are implying... I am ever amazed how Football folk think if they pore $%#$@# on Football for like four years ... this will have only a positive effect on the game because when things are changed the two million people involved will suddenly gain their wisdom... This to me is beyond lazy journalism by many senior journalist ... you can be if you are good at your craft be totalling destroying FFA systems and talk up Football at the same time...
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
You repeat this 2 or 3 times every football thread.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Thats is BS ... I don't oppose all negative articles... I challenge you to find someone more than me attacking Steven Lowy... That I want an independent A-League for about four years now.... that I want a 16 team competition within two years ... but like many those that don't 100% agree are to be attacked .... you seem to think you have all the answers .... I actually think you believe you have the knowledge and smarts to run Football and turn it around..... many in Football do ... The problem is most don't ... I have seen ideas, false dawns, false prophets for maybe 45 years .... and they all had the answers ... today its P & R .... yep introduce P & R and all the children will join hands and gladly sing along... As to heaps of positive articles .... please you seriously believe that.... BTW I am in no defending FFA or Lowy .... nor their system... but if you put #$%$#$ on something forever then it does have an effect .... But rather than name call.... tell me why what I said is wrong... let me remind you what I said which your reaction was I oppose all negative articles which is pure BS... please tell me factually whats wrong with this recopied.. A good and praising press normally increases crowds and ratings A OK press normally results in a small increase in crowds and ratings. A poor press normally results in a small fall in crowds and ratings A bad press normally results in a fall in crowds and ratings A Toxic press normally destroys a game.