Despite weeks of prime ministerial support, senator Bridget McKenzie has resigned from cabinet over her role in the so-called sports rorts saga.
Melbourne Victory defender Thomas Deng was recently signed by Urawa Reds in Japan.
While the two may seem disassociated on the surface, there is in fact an inextricable link between the management of government funds, the process undertaken to determine exactly how that money is allocated and the move abroad of one of Australia’s most promising young defenders.
The senator’s resignation followed allegations that Australia’s coalition government strategically directed sports grants to clubs and organisations based on potential political advantage rather than sporting merit or need.
Of course, the claims were vehemently denied by those in power and any admission of wrongdoing seemed unlikely.
However, when money is allocated to destinations where governing politicians and/or their families and colleagues have an interest, the stench reaches far and wide.
The saga is intrinsically relevant to football and by extension Deng’s exciting transfer.
Former Victory man Thomas Deng has secured a glamour transfer to Japan. (Photo by Ross Swanborough/Getty Images)
The amount of money allocated to the beautiful game in Australia has long been a source of frustration and anger for many working at the coal face of football. Those involved in the junior game know the lay of the land all too well. Exorbitant registration and academy fees have become the norm. The amounts are far higher than those required to participate in many other sports.
The sad reality for football has been that in recent times, despite having an ever increasing number of people playing the game, funding has in no way reflected the growth. That inequity ultimately led to what has become a sad but fundamentally truthful throwaway line: “twice the number of players, half the funding”.
There was a 13 per cent increase in football participation rates in Australia in 2018, with around 1.8 million people playing the game. In early 2019, Football Federation Australia’s annual census identified a “A$500 million facilities funding gap” that, if not reduced, stood to limit the growth of the game and gender equality within it.
In the lead-up the 2019 federal election, the government promised a further A$158 million of investment to Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport. That money was to be used in delivering the overarching Sport Plan 2030.
Such funding allows kids to experience sports, including the game of football, at a school level. Somewhere in excess of 100,000 children have already done so as a result, however, funding of this nature is more directed at health and physical activity outcomes. Both are certainly important yet the game of football at a grassroots level is in dire need and demands further investment and support.
With numbers certain to grow, junior Australian footballers may soon be too numerous and the pitches available too few, should greater investment in the short term not occur. The issue drip feeds its way through the game as a whole, with all levels affected.
While registration fees and the number and quality of facilities are core issues for most Australian players, the upper tiers are also impacted. Socceroos and Olyroos manager Graham Arnold spoke recently of his frustration at a lack of investment in his young Olympics-bound team.
Graham Arnold is concerned about football’s funding. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
With Asian football bounding ahead, the limited opportunities and exposure offered to our best young players concerns him. Despite the relative inexperience and raw nature of the squad he successfully took to Thailand and will now lead in Japan, Arnold got the job done. However, other Asian nations are well ahead in terms of developing young talent.
Those nations’ investments give young players more opportunities to play, and create a smooth transition between age-restricted and senior football. Thus, greater exposure to talent scouts and overseas interest follows and promising players are presented with opportunities to head abroad and develop further as athletes.
This is where the sports rorts saga and Deng intercede; the point where the inadequately funded game of football clashes with a government that saw fit to allocate A$500,000 to a Northern Territory gun club frequented by Nigel Scullion, a former colleague and senator.
Deng has been talented and fortunate enough to be spotted, despite limited opportunities to play in national colours. Many others have not been so fortunate, thanks to paltry investment and limited exposure. That leads to many of our best young players existing in international anonymity.
Many people would draw the logical conclusion that football has historically been inadequately supported due to funding allocations based on friendships, connections and political advantage rather than need, potential growth and popularity.
Thankfully, whether that is true or not, Australia will be represented at the Olympics by an Olyroos team for the first time in 12 years. As a result, other players will receive similar interest to Deng and accept an overseas offer of their own in the near future.
Those offers stem from exposure on the world stage, something that investment in the game at all levels brings. The basis of that investment has been called into question recently and McKenzie’s resignation confirmed what we all suspected.
Maximus Insight
Guest
Well said! Also, check out NSW as an example of the recipients of the rorted infrastructure grants program https://www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding/community_sport_infrastructure_grant_program/successful_grant_recipient_list#?state=NSW&round= Soccer clubs and associations easily the biggest beneficiary Soccer needs to do something about an "elite pathways" culture being corrupted into a revenue cash cow for NPL clubs senior teams if it wants to address the paucity of developing talent. Until then, spare us the victim mentality disorder
chris
Guest
FIL the sports rorts is just the tip of the iceberg for these morally bankrupt politicians and what they get up to. How can we have such devastating fires, wiping out 33% of our native forests in NSW in just one season. Over a billion animals lost, driven to extinction and yet, our govt's allow land clearing on a massive scale, wiping out even more natural habitat. Why donate to any relief efforts when these corrupt govt's stab you in the back with sports rorts and land clearing?
chris
Guest
AFL do it all the time. They tried it in Sydney in league areas and got run out of town.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Hi Stuart, Just wondering the basis of "There was a 13 per cent increase in football participation rates in Australia in 2018, with around 1.8 million people playing the game. " The reason I ask is that via my article early last year I drilled into the FFA (and AFL for contrast) numbers and tried to illustrate some of the 'creative accountancy' that was either obvious or implicit. The 1.8 million participants and 13% growth both are a 'stretch'. From 2016 to 2018 the increase in 'outdoor affiliated' registered players is 28,289 from 499,361 (2016) to 527,650 (2018). 13% of 500K is 65,000. There hasn't been half of that over 2 years. The total participation number of 1.8 million that claims a 13% increase has benefitted from adding in coaches/referees and a big boost under the "tournaments and community programs" heading. Of course.....140,000 futsal and a cliam of 560,000 from schools (about 53% comps and 47% programs) . But then - - how many are unique individuals and how many are double/triple counted? Anyway - - what I'm suggesting that a value driven sponsor would be drilling in on these numbers and not running with the public misrepresentation. And.......when the viewing numbers via fta, foxtel and kayo users are nothing to write home about then.......
paul2
Guest
*know
Paul2
Guest
Honestly, Stuart, this victim schtick is growing stale. Here’s a breakdown of routine grant funding provided by Sports Australia in 2018/19: Australian Footballl: $225,000 Cricket: $428,749 Rugby League: $800,000 Association Football: $4,529,943 https://www.sportaus.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/716119/ASC-Annual-Report-20182019.pdf To help you out, soccer received: - more than 20 times the funding provided to Australian Football; - more than 10 times the funding provided to Cricket; - more than 5 times the funding provided to Rugby League - more than 3 times the combined total provided to those three sports Yes, McKenzie’s behaviour was deplorable. This disadvantaged not particular sports but sporting organisations not based in marginal seats. North Brisbane FC (a soccer club) received a grant for upgrades already funded by State and local Government. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/28/sports-grants-brisbane-football-club-given-150000-for-project-that-was-already-funded I no all of this gets in the way of the persecution complex, but there it is.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
10 out 10 young man go to the top of the class. If these rotten so and so's can't turn up and lead when over 5milliom hectares of the nation burn, over 30 people die and over a billion native animals die and still flat out deny anything is wrong, then I think out descriptions are pretty close to the mark. And that goes for all of them. So how the heck are these anachronistic dinosaurs going to help football.. They don't have the strength to step away from their existing allegiances let alone lead a country when it's needed. Gutless cowards
Nick Symonds
Guest
During an interview, Nationals leader Michael McCormack blamed the severity of the bushfires on a range of different things even including "self-combusting piles of manure". Sounds like a perfect desciption of our current leaders really.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Axemaster all that matters is that Nikou has a direct line to the PM and captains of business, just as Lowy senior once had. Does Nikou have this? We can only hope.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
This quote from TWG makes it clear that the APFCA and the FFA are working on this jointly: Fong said the clubs and the FFA, through its new CEO James Johnson, were working in close collaboration to ensure the game explored every avenue to attract sponsors and keep existing ones. “There’s far greater cooperation between the FFA and the clubs than ever before, and we’re very happy for that,” added Fong. “We’re doing things side by side - it’s not us and them. It’s us.”
Evan Askew
Guest
Tuttle. I had lunch with him the other day.
Beach
Roar Rookie
Ha ha then SwiftKey got me....serves me right for playing the pedant
Beach
Roar Rookie
On average purely pedantic note, when 2 things meet at a common point they intersect, not intercede.
Beach
Roar Rookie
Watch all A League through Kayo, zero buffering issues.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
FFV brought in pro analysts proved that by 2025 Melbourne will be 450 pitches short and told Daniel Andrews that adds up to a lot of votes. Boom FFV got a wad of funding
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Doesn't help to get around the sports torts, politicians and backyard sport collusion
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Yeah apparently Hyundai wants the Government to pull their finger out and start to get hydrogen infrastructure in Australiafor cars industry etc and the government has responded in the same way their did during the Christmas new year period, but that probably doesn’t hold water considering I heard it down the pub
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
My guestimation at this point in time is that regardless of party allegiance or ideology, there's not a politician in this country that is liked less than they are now. Self-centred, egocentric, disconnected arrogant gits the lot of them. I left hypocritical as a separate issue. "A fair go for the people", how often have you heard that, yet half a million went to Tony Abbott's Mosman Rowing club, another half million to Scullion"s gun club. Struth in the ACT I heard that football juniors have to book a pitch to train and yet the bloody Raiders got given a dirty great wad of money. "The best multicultural society in the world" how often do you hear that, yet the most multicultural sport in this country gets nothing because of the archaic mindset of our politicians who are so in bed with NRL and AFL they are the next best thing to defacto board members "but they are unbiased in their role as politcians". They have not comprehension of how football can facilitate cross-culture friendships, bridge cultural gaps, facilitate business opportunities and imagine the benefits if there was an initiative to help get indigenous kids into football. Bottom line, our politicians self-serving, disrespectful, and disconnected. You only had to watch Q and A on ABC lat night.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Stuart - I have had the NBN internet, and Kayo for a few months now and the service has been excellent. I have not experienced any buffering at all watching football on my desktop computer, nor on Telstra TV in my lounge room on my television. My Telstra NBN internet plan is $90 (Unlimited 40 Mbps speed) + Telstra TV $9 per month, totalling $99 per the month. Kayo is an additional $25 per month subscription on Telstra TV. At this point I have to mention---there were some teething problems when I switched over from ADSL to NBN. For the first couple of weeks the down load speed was short for what I was paying for---after contacting the Telstra complaints department and threatening them with ombudsmen action, they came to the party and I haven't had any trouble since. I recommend that you occasionally do a Telstra speed test, after you are connected to the NBN---to make sure you are getting the download speeds you are paying for. ie 40 Mbps downloading speed. I think that is important for trouble free uninterrupted internet football viewing on Kayo. Perhaps your friend needs to check his download speed, which you can do by googling "Telstra speed test" and then run the test---it's very simple to do. If he isn't getting the 40 Mbps download speed then that may be his problem.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
I'm a Foxtel customer, have been for decades and every time I watch Kayo at a friends house, the buffering does my head in. I have limited experience in it but I'm interested if this is common. After asking about NBN plans in my area and being told by the retailer that it will be nowhere near the speed of my current service, I am concerned about the reliability of streaming. Having said that Optus Sport app does worked perfectly when chromecast to my TV. I can't imagine what some of the less tech savvy people feel about all this.