Sport these days is as every bit a business as it is a passionate and emotional pass time for the fans and players. When Soccer Australia morphed into the FFA, the days of money mismanagement should’ve been finished.
However according to the Smith Report into football tabled yesterday, it continues to be rope that prevents the game from rapidly moving forwards
Beginning positively, the report lauded the strategic objectives of the A League which stress community engagement and grassroots development as imperative to achieving a sustained and successful national competition.
However it highlighted over ambitious economic expansion and foolhardy use of funds as needing to be overhauled.
In reference to expansion, the report finds that the touted FFA Cup, an English FA Cup style competition should be shelved until the appropriate level of commercial backing is received.
This suggests that the FFA who were going to roll out the FFA Cup next year were going to do so without the sufficient level of financial support. Either that or they would divert monies from the A-League or national teams to sustain the cup. Such a deflection of funds has already been crippling; as seen with the failed World Cup bid.
Further to this the report explains that the league should stay at 10 teams and avoid expansion until further money is generated to ensure these clubs survive successfully.
Smith also sheds light on the happenings at FFA HQ imploring the governing body to stop measures to increase staffing and salaries and conversely improve efficiency and productivity.
This recommendation paints an unflattering picture of those running FFA HQ.
Therefore, the report wisely finds that money that would otherwise go into the aforementioned avenues must be invested in grassroots, community engagement and the women’s game in order to create and maintain a vast base of absorb football constituents.
This, in my opinion and in Smith’s, will be a far more beneficial and appropriate climate for the League to expand because increased numbers of engagement, achieved through grassroots investment will ultimately be able to support a bigger and better league.
Moreover having a sustained base of engaged fans, like that suggested by Smith, will protect grassroots investment from potential monetary losses by the A-League.
Ultimately fans should never suffer due to corporate mismanagement.
The Smith Report will hopefully wake the FFA executive out of their slumber toward how they have so far managed this infant league. However, credit must be given for uptake of community engagement, an important move by the FFA.
Now it is time for those people to get serious about where the A-League is at and make sure they make intelligent and appropriate financial decisions.
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