The Game In Crisis Thread.

TommyD13

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My hope for the game in this country is a day possibly by 2030, we have a 20 team A-League, with a fully professional 20 team second division. We would have 2 teams being automatically relegated and promoted each season, with a playoff between 18th in the A-League and 3rd in the second division for the last spot. We would have the FFA Cup running throughout the season culminating in a final after the last match day. We would have no finals series, the best team after 38 games wins. We would have 3 teams automatically qualifying for the Champion's League and a fourth team that would be either 4th place or the FFA Cup winners playing in the playoff round. We would have a final day of 10 simultaneous kick offs. We would have no salary cap, we would have transfers and a loan system between Australian clubs. We would have no Wellington Phoenix and all 40 professional teams would be based in Australia. They would all have their own stadium which they own and control. We would have all of these professional clubs with world class academies producing the next batch of socceroos. This socceroos team would be making, and getting out of the group of all world cups, pressing on into the round of 16. We would have our A-League clubs pushing their way into Champion's League finals and semi-finals. But most importantly. We would have a country that is united in the purpose of trying to make football work in this country.
 

Established1870

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My hope for the game in this country is a day possibly by 2030, we have a 20 team A-League, with a fully professional 20 team second division.

With our population that is never going to be financially viable or possible from a logistics point of view.

We would have no salary cap,

You would kill the A-League entirely if this happened.

We would have no Wellington Phoenix and all 40 professional teams would be based in Australia.

The Phoenix are actually good for our game and bringing in Auckland City FC would be even better. I will never understand why people think we should can the Phoenix. We should be getting rid of Melbourne City before we kill off the Nix.

We would have all of these professional clubs with world class academies producing the next batch of socceroos.

That requires a s**t load of money that I don't think most A-League clubs will have in our lifetimes.

This socceroos team would be making, and getting out of the group of all world cups, pressing on into the round of 16.

IMO we have the potential to do this but I don't think it'll ever happen.

We would have our A-League clubs pushing their way into Champion's League finals and semi-finals.

This also requires a s**t load of money that I don't think most A-League clubs will have in our lifetimes.
 
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Have posted this article in the World Cup squad thread but also appropriate to post in here. everything that is wrong with the current Socceroos and the development of future star! the more things change the more they stay the some!

FIFA World Cup 2018: Tim Cahill's Socceroos selection triggers conspiracy theory after Jamie Maclaren snub
By Offsiders columnist Richard Hinds

Analysis

Updated about 3 hours ago Fri 18 May 2018, 8:31am

In keeping with the Socceroos oddly detached and discordant World Cup build-up, instead of a farewell game we got a Tim Cahill-themed petrol station.

The symbolism of having the team's major sponsor alter its signs to honour the veteran striker was not immediately apparent.

Did this mean the Socceroos intended to pump their opposition? That Australian football was no longer running on the smell of an oily rag? Would we get a 4 cents per-litre discount or two snack bars for $1 if Cahill hit the back of the net?

Regardless, using Cahill's name to promote this World Cup campaign created inevitable conspiracy theories due to his recent lack of game time and the hasty launch of the sponsor's activation.

Not even the swiftest ambush marketeer could have knocked up the "Cahilltex" signs or had Cahill pose in what looks like a banana skin onesie for a giveaway competition in the few hours between the squad announcement and the first sighting of the petrol-related promotional paraphernalia.

Thus the arch conclusion inevitably reached by some — that 38-year-old Cahill's place in the squad had been guaranteed by his marketing value, a theory that went viral when Jamie Maclaren, one of Cahill's rivals for a strikers berth, scored a hat-trick for Hibernian against Rangers and was overlooked.

Six months ago to suggest Cahill would be playing a fourth World Cup as a marketing ploy would have been to spit in the face of the grand legacy of Australia's greatest and most prolific international.

Since then Cahill had left Melbourne City for Millwall, where he spent far more time running up and down the sideline than on the pitch. Was about an hour of football in six months enough to justify his spot?

But as the old saying goes, if the choice is between a conspiracy and a stuff up, assume it was a stuff up every time.

With Cahill retaining the endorsement of most expert observers, you can assume his inclusion was for playing reasons alone.

Cahill's proven record in big games, dressing shed leadership and talisman status make him an obvious exception to any guidelines coach Bert van Marwijk might have set about recent form or match fitness.

Maclaren's hat-trick? On the back of the A-League grand final VAR debacle, just the latest example that anything that can embarrass Australian football right now probably will.

Yet beyond Cahill's enduring value, his selection is further evidence of the harsh and too often ignored reality of Australian football — the parade of stars that was supposed to be inspired by the heroics of the Golden Generation in 2006 has failed to materialise.

The odd talented youngster such as Melbourne City's Daniel Arzani has stepped up. But twelve years later, the new Tim Cahill is the old Tim Cahill.

Which in turn highlights a lesson Australian football is yet to learn. Reaching the World Cup finals is merely the chicken or the egg or whichever comes second. Not a cure-all for the game many believed it would be.

Australia's long and desperately frustrating absence from the World Cup between 1974 and 2006 entrenched the notion that a few weeks on the game's grandest international stage would be the answer to all the games domestic woes.

Only that shocking upset by the Kiwis, those awful second half goals by Iran or that sleepless night in Montevideo caused by drum-thumping Uruguayan fans had held the game back. Qualify for the World Cup and all the problems with the national league, player development and fan engagement would be fixed.

Three World Cups later, it is now obvious Australia's appearances in Germany, South Africa and Brazil provided no more than a brief sugar hit for the sport.

This time? The FFA will bank an eight figure cheque from FIFA that it uses to pay bills that weren't covered by a less-than-satisfactory A-League media rights deal. Huge audiences will watch Australia's games. Even more kids (participation is far from the game's greatest problem) will kick a ball in the playground.

And then … we return to business as usual. In this case, the squabble between the FFA and the A-League clubs for control of the domestic league.

Which is not to say the Socceroos' appearance — and, as unlikely as it seems this time — a stellar performance at the World Cup could not provide considerable momentum. But the game needs to be in a position to leverage the feel good factor into palpable gains.

The most obvious way in which Australian football can do that is to move rapidly to extend the A-League to a second tier and to find the money — the greatest challenge — to help fund the clubs beneath them.

This would require an acknowledgment that the game's prosperity should not rely solely on attempting to fill five large A-League arenas each weekend, but having vibrant crowds in 10,000 or even 5000 capacity stadiums operated by clubs with a deep connection with their local communities.

This would broaden the participation base of professional and semi-professional players and, in turn, the ranks from which the long-awaited next generation of stars could emerge.

Given its perfect prime-time kick-off, Australia's World Cup opener against France in Kazan on June 16 at 8:00pm (AEST) should be one the most watched Socceroos games in history.

Yet whether Australia's hopes are fuelled by Tim Cahill or someone else, such occasions will have no long-term impact until the game has sorted out its own backyard.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-...ill-world-cup-selection/9771336?section=sport
 

craigos

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Bigger players than Cahill have done more cheeseworthy promotions for sponsors in the past, not sure why everyone is losing their mind over it. If the major sponsor was Cruise About you can bet your bottom dollar there'd be a Kruse About promotion, probably a voyage where the boat just roams around the Pacific Ocean and once every now and then finds a place to dock.
 

David Schwarz

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My hope for the game in this country is a day possibly by 2030, we have a 20 team A-League, with a fully professional 20 team second division. We would have 2 teams being automatically relegated and promoted each season, with a playoff between 18th in the A-League and 3rd in the second division for the last spot. We would have the FFA Cup running throughout the season culminating in a final after the last match day. We would have no finals series, the best team after 38 games wins. We would have 3 teams automatically qualifying for the Champion's League and a fourth team that would be either 4th place or the FFA Cup winners playing in the playoff round. We would have a final day of 10 simultaneous kick offs. We would have no salary cap, we would have transfers and a loan system between Australian clubs. We would have no Wellington Phoenix and all 40 professional teams would be based in Australia. They would all have their own stadium which they own and control. We would have all of these professional clubs with world class academies producing the next batch of socceroos. This socceroos team would be making, and getting out of the group of all world cups, pressing on into the round of 16. We would have our A-League clubs pushing their way into Champion's League finals and semi-finals. But most importantly. We would have a country that is united in the purpose of trying to make football work in this country.

With our population that is never going to be financially viable or possible from a logistics point of view.



You would kill the A-League entirely if this happened.



The Phoenix are actually good for our game and bringing in Auckland City FC would be even better. I will never understand why people think we should can the Phoenix. We should be getting rid of Melbourne City before we kill off the Nix.



That requires a s**t load of money that I don't think most A-League clubs will have in our lifetimes.



IMO we have the potential to do this but I don't think it'll ever happen.



This also requires a s**t load of money that I don't think most A-League clubs will have in our lifetimes.

  • We should strive for 16 clubs in the A-League - What is currently there, plus Wollongong, South Melbourne, some club around Geelong, North Sydney, and a second Adelaide team
  • I'd love a second promotion/relegation, but I'll have to be convinced in real time whether it's worth it
  • FFA cup has to run towards the end of the season - it's losing its importance in its current time slot in the calendar
  • AFC Champions League "whatever it's called" needs to be fixed, but probably requires us to throw our weight around a bit more on a result based level
  • Either get rid of Wellington or bring in a second NZ team in Auckland in replacement of what ever I mentioned before
  • Loans and transfers yes, I think we still need desperately the salary cap though
  • Ideally you'd move Melbourne City to either a bespoke ground in the North, or use something currently there and rebuild it, but probably not going to happen
  • I'd like setting up our own academies, but not a fan of foreign academies acting as feeder systems to clubs in other countries
  • Hopefully from all of this, we can produce a better striker than Juric :$
 

David Schwarz

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interesting times ahead

I haven't seen so much interest in the national team since '06

There's a chance to do something big again

Alas, I trust a rusted car jack over Lowy's bastard spawn and David "I have no idea what I'm doing" Gallop
 
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I haven't seen so much interest in the national team since '06

There's a chance to do something big again

Alas, I trust a rusted car jack over Lowy's bastard spawn and David "I have no idea what I'm doing" Gallop
There has Been a lot of changes since 2006. Still remember the days of the TV rights deals from 2006-13 and 2013-17. The 2006-13 deal was only worth 19 million a year and the Socceroos games was the most Valuable part of that package and the A-leagues value wasn't worth a lot. The 2013-17 deal was worth 40 million but the A-league was the most Valuable part of that package partly due to Western Sydney Wanderers.

A-leagues Biggest Problem isn't Expansion. Its Advertising or lack there of.
 

David Schwarz

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There has Been a lot of changes since 2006. Still remember the days of the TV rights deals from 2006-13 and 2013-17. The 2006-13 deal was only worth 19 million a year and the Socceroos games was the most Valuable part of that package and the A-leagues value wasn't worth a lot. The 2013-17 deal was worth 40 million but the A-league was the most Valuable part of that package partly due to Western Sydney Wanderers.

A-leagues Biggest Problem isn't Expansion. Its Advertising or lack there of.

It took a close friend to let me know the season had started last year

And I literally bury my head in nothing but transfer rumour garbage from August onwards :drunk:
 
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There has Been a lot of changes since 2006. Still remember the days of the TV rights deals from 2006-13 and 2013-17. The 2006-13 deal was only worth 19 million a year and the Socceroos games was the most Valuable part of that package and the A-leagues value wasn't worth a lot. The 2013-17 deal was worth 40 million but the A-league was the most Valuable part of that package partly due to Western Sydney Wanderers.

A-leagues Biggest Problem isn't Expansion. Its Advertising or lack there of.

The original 2005 A-League marketing project ("It's football - but not as you know it") is one of the best advertising campaigns conducted in Australian sport. Then Ben Buckley and Frank Lowy diverted all the marketing funds into the 2018 World Cup bid...

Football - like basketball - is a sport that piggy-backs off interest in overseas leagues. Losing the part-time, all-sports observer with Optus' English Premier League rights purchase in 2016 has greatly affected the A-League.
 

craigos

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The best thing they could is make Arzani the face of the A League (if he stays - which may not happen).
Matt Leckie should be all over our screens (good looking dude, articulate and skillful)
Alas, the only person I have seen is Jedinak selling a TV.

Why haven't the FFA done any advertising for the A League during the broadcasts? Seems crazy.

100% agree that this the perfect time to try and get the A League out into the media, I haven't seen people this excited about soccer since '06. Helps that we are playing good football!
 

craigos

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"Made in the Hyundai A League" ad is such a good premise but the lightbulb clearly didn't go off in the FFA brains department. When every player had been involved in the domestic comp their should have been half a dozen ads with the players in their previous clubs kits selling the league to people who probably never knew Matt Ryan or Jedinak or Rogic started here.
 

David Schwarz

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"Made in the Hyundai A League" ad is such a good premise but the lightbulb clearly didn't go off in the FFA brains department. When every player had been involved in the domestic comp their should have been half a dozen ads with the players in their previous clubs kits selling the league to people who probably never knew Matt Ryan or Jedinak or Rogic started here.

I wouldn't compare it to the AFL, but I would to the NRL - of whom I have not seen one single ad campaign since they created the Storm down here

Yet, through the slow drip feed of stories and media presence, I know exactly when the NRL starts

I like League, but would never consider myself a fan, I've been to one match in my lifetime and that was a freebie from a mate :drunk:

Football, however, I've followed since I can remember. For me - on the personal story I mentioned before - to not know when the local league starts is ridiculous

I was more clued up during the NSL days when the biggest story at the time was when the Channel 7 offshoot only made news for being an utter failure
 

craigos

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I wouldn't compare it to the AFL, but I would to the NRL - of whom I have not seen one single ad campaign since they created the Storm down here

Yet, through the slow drip feed of stories and media presence, I know exactly when the NRL starts

I like League, but would never consider myself a fan, I've been to one match in my lifetime and that was a freebie from a mate :drunk:

Football, however, I've followed since I can remember. For me - on the personal story I mentioned before - to not know when the local league starts is ridiculous

I was more clued up during the NSL days when the biggest story at the time was when the Channel 7 offshoot only made news for being an utter failure

It's ridiculous when you really think about it. Any high school kid could piece together some highlights footage with some music playing, some graphics and a slogan within a day. They must have a marketing budget but what exactly are they spending it on?

If the league becomes independent it will be noticeable overnight what difference having business people involved will make. You can have the greatest product in the world but if no one knows about it you're not going to sell anything.

They need to stop trying to sanitise the marketing as well. Show the fierce rivalries, people jumping around going nuts. Families know that if you sit in the supporter ends then it's going to be rowdy, they don't need humble images of smiling kids sitting down to clap like they're at Wimbledon to entice them.
 

David Schwarz

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It's ridiculous when you really think about it. Any high school kid could piece together some highlights footage with some music playing, some graphics and a slogan within a day. They must have a marketing budget but what exactly are they spending it on?

If the league becomes independent it will be noticeable overnight what difference having business people involved will make. You can have the greatest product in the world but if no one knows about it you're not going to sell anything.

They need to stop trying to sanitise the marketing as well. Show the fierce rivalries, people jumping around going nuts. Families know that if you sit in the supporter ends then it's going to be rowdy, they don't need humble images of smiling kids sitting down to clap like they're at Wimbledon to entice them.

It's enough to tear your hair out honestly

Support wise - and not just this game either, you can easily extend it to footy too - you're basically targeting families that maybe hold what, a small percentage of the population I'm guessing?

What about the old farts, the middle age blokes that need an outlet (my bracket) or the silly teenagers that want something new and exciting (what I used to be once)? Surely there is more of them

A-League was at it's best when Victory fans basically took over large swathes of the city, The Cove on the rare occasion captured the Eastern Suburbs, and WSW basically recreated some sense of proper European/South American support

Everyone wanted to go, it made the news - both small and large media
 

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The best thing they could is make Arzani the face of the A League (if he stays - which may not happen).
Matt Leckie should be all over our screens (good looking dude, articulate and skillful)
Alas, the only person I have seen is Jedinak selling a TV.

Why haven't the FFA done any advertising for the A League during the broadcasts? Seems crazy.

100% agree that this the perfect time to try and get the A League out into the media, I haven't seen people this excited about soccer since '06. Helps that we are playing good football!

Hopefully putting the swearing gif in spoiler tags prevents a ban!

NblpUPP.gif

We should 100% be promoting this guy all over our screens :D
 
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Blocking sweeping governance reforms would leave the FFA open to being overthrown by FIFA

FOOTBALL Federation Australia could leave itself open to being overthrown by FIFA with revelations some state federations are set to block sweeping governance reforms.

The group tasked with solving Australian football’s civil war on Tuesday night submitted its recommendations to FIFA for likely approval, but those changes are set to be voted down once they return to Australia to be ratified.

It comes after a flurry of last-ditch lobbying of minor state federations in recent days, aimed at solidifying support for chairman Steven Lowy and the under-siege board.

Should that occur it would throw the decision back to FIFA, which would have to decide whether to go ahead with its long-held threats to remove Lowy and the board and implement the very normalisation committee it held back on early this year.

A 100-page document detailing expansive governance changes is back with FIFA after its congress review working group finished a proposal two months in the making.

Independent chairwoman Judith Griggs, who was mandated to oversee the process, was due to submit her universally accepted recommendations by Europe’s close of business on Tuesday.

It is due now to be accepted by FIFA before being put before its member associations committee for approval in August.

That then leaves the current 10-person Australian congress, made up of nine votes for each member federation and one for the 10 A-League clubs, with the choice of either adopting or blocking it at a special general meeting before September 7.

As was the case in November’s failed vote, an amendment to FFA’s constitution is required to pass the changes, with 75 per cent — or eight of the 10 votes — needed for an in-favour vote.

Following a number of back room conversations over the weekend, the ACT’s Capital Football and Football Federation Northern Territory are both in FFA’s corner.

Lowy is also believed to have the relative support of Tasmania and Northern NSW.

So intense was the lobbying it’s understood FIFA intervened, summoning all nine states to a conference call to reassure them of the virtues of the working-group’s process.

FFA is understood to hold a starkly different view — that Lowy has every right to communicate with the member federations as his constituents.

Australia’s peak body also does not believe the working group represents a fair and equal cross-section of the country’s football community.

Regardless, the turn of events foreshadows another two months of wrangling between the code’s factions and, ultimately, more speculation about FIFA’s next move.
Normalisation or suspension are options, though Lowy has previously indicated he would not rule out legal action if that path was taken.

The working group was tasked with proposing a new structure for the FFA congress that includes a “broader and more balanced” representation of stakeholders to bring the governing body in line with FIFA’s statutes.

The group has also taken into account other issues, including the governance model of the A-League, with clubs fixed on taking over the running of the stagnating competition from FFA, as well as the composition and independence of the FFA board.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...a/news-story/de7a2849136bcce406a4717acccda0b7

Desperate to hang on to power! This looks like getting even worse before it gets better.
 
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Another good article by Jonathan Howcroft on this s**t storm!

Time for FFA to show real leadership and bring miserable chapter to an end | Jonathan Howcroft | Sport
Jonathan Howcroft
7-8 minutes
On 4 April Football Federation Australia issued a press release headlined: “Fifa announces terms of reference for congress review working group.” In the release FFA offers its support for the CRWG – which was unsurprising as it represented an alternative to the board’s removal by Fifa and the imposition of a normalisation committee.

“Football Federation Australia chairman Steven Lowy AM welcomed receipt of the terms of reference and said FFA looked forward to working with Fifa, the Asian Football Confederation and all Australian football stakeholders to expand the congress,” the media release read. At long last an end to this interminable saga was in sight.

Four months later, and on completion of the CRWG’s deliberations, it now appears FFA has had a change of mind. The recommendations of the CRWG remain under wraps but it is safe to assume they propose disrupting the status quo FFA’s leadership has managed so assiduously since the organisation’s formation. How much disruption remains to be seen, but clearly enough to spook FFA’s leaders into action.

Instead of accepting in good faith the recommendations of a group constituted by Fifa that includes an independent chairperson and a member of FFA’s own board, not to mention the chairmen of the four largest member federations, two A-League club representatives, and the CEO of the players’ union, FFA has instead sought to exploit a procedural loophole to circumnavigate the review body and drag out the fiasco. You almost want to applaud the brass neck.

Point VI of the review’s terms of reference indicates any recommendations need to be passed at an FFA special meeting, and for that to take place no later than 7 September. Back in April it was presumed this would be a formality, a ceremonial rubber stamp marking the end of one process and the beginning of the next. Apparently not.

Under FFA’s constitution when such a meeting addresses changes to the organisation’s fundamentals, 75% of votes are required to pass the motion – in other words at least eight of the 10 current congress members. It appears at least two (Capital Football and Football Federation Northern Territory) and as many as four of the smallest member federations (none of whom were on the CRWG) are now prepared to vote against the acceptance of the CRWG recommendations. It does not require a wild imagination to believe that such member federations are not acting without encouragement.

It is the latest and most desperate attempt yet to cling on to power by FFA’s intransigent leadership. If the CRWG recommendations are not accepted by the existing congress in September the ball passes into Fifa’s court once more. Already unimpressed with what they’ve witnessed over recent days it is hard to envisage anything other than the imposition of a normalisation committee. Based on the experience of the previous two years of futile bickering, a normalisation committee is looking increasingly like the circuit breaker the game needs.

FFA continue to insist they are doing all of this for the good of the game. It is no longer possible to agree that the good of the game is best served by this behaviour. Under the auspices of Fifa the CRWG started with a blank sheet of paper and an independent chair, and through the course of its investigation counselled the game’s stakeholders from the top of the pyramid to the bottom. If the outcome of that is not to FFA’s liking, they might want to look in the mirror.

This is an organisation that has had 13 years to do something about its poor governance (at least the two most recent of these have been on notice from Fifa) and by failing to do so have succeeded in putting all manner of stakeholders offside, including the A-League clubs, the professional players, and the member federations representing the lion’s share of registered Australian players. They have already lost one congress vote on their preferred model for reorganisation and yet they continue to shift the goalposts until their preferred outcome materialises. It is unseemly, shameless, and leaves football in Australia in a state of uncertainty at a time when big decisions need to be made.

The member federations should not escape censure either for their part in enabling this behaviour. In fact, if this shambles plays out to script it will be the banner case in point for proving how absurd the system is, one where organisations like Football Northern Territory, led by Stuart Kenny, and Capital Football, chaired by Mark O’Neill, could combine to form a 20% voting bloc yet represent less than a 10th of registered participants in football in Australia.

Change is long overdue. There is now consensus among stakeholders about what the future should look like. It is time for FFA to show real leadership and bring this miserable chapter to its conclusion. If they can’t then we should hope Fifa has the gumption to end it for them.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...-an-end?CMP=twt_a-sport_b-gdnausport_c-au_g-3
 
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So in other words, more bribes from FFA to lesser state feds?
http://www.australianfootballclubs.org.au/news/aafc-endorses-ffa-congress-reform-working-group
AAFC notes reports in all major media today concerning the possible ‘derailment’ of the process instituted by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation regarding reform of Football Federation Australia’s (FFA) governance.

According to reports, up to four of the smallest state-based member federations could vote against the recommendations of the Congress Review Working Group (CRWG) submitted to FIFA yesterday, when they are required to endorse them in September.

“If these reports are accurate, then the state member federations involved, and FFA who is reported to be urging this course of action, should hang their collective heads in shame,” said Chairman of AAFC, Rabieh Krayem.

“This seems to me as if FFA’s Board and management do not like the Working Group’s recommendations and – somewhat ironically – are unable to accept the referee’s decision.

“The fact is: the member federations were well represented on the Working Group. All state member federations voted for their four representatives, and all of them had every opportunity to be involved in the discussions, process and decision-making via those representatives.”

Krayem said he also did not understand the suggestion that FFA ‘does not believe the working group represents a fair and equal cross-section’ of the football community.

“AAFC, whose clubs have a combined total of around 35,000 players involving 65,000 volunteer hours per week, met several times with Ms Griggs and the Working Group.

“We might not have agreed on every point, but they were always open to a constructive discussion on the many issues we presented to them,” said Krayem.

“Of course, we do not know what has been recommended, but regardless of the outcome, I will place on record AAFC’s appreciation of the entire Working Group’s willingness to engage with national premier league clubs through us.”

Krayem said he trusts that FIFA and the AFC will accept the report and recommendations of the Working Group for agreement by the existing FFA Congress on September 7.

“Football in Australia wants and needs to be able to get on with the job to develop and grow the game with the entire football community working together.

“These governance issues have more or less paralysed the game for too long. It’s an indictment on the game’s leadership that it apparently wants to continue to extend this paralysis even longer."

And also this:
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craigos

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 2, 2014
16,668
32,003
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Liverpool
God I hope FIFA come in and push everyone associated with the FFA out. ACT and NT shouldn't have anywhere near as much of a say as NSW/VIC in the running of the game at a national level.

The issue is if we were to sack all the heads of local FFV. Football West etc then we'd lose a lot of good people. Just sucks that there are still so many leaches hanging on at the state levels to the detriment of the game.
 

Punt Road Feral

Premiership Player
Aug 23, 2007
3,603
4,016
Punt Road's Manure Pit
AFL Club
Richmond
God I hope FIFA come in and push everyone associated with the FFA out. ACT and NT shouldn't have anywhere near as much of a say as NSW/VIC in the running of the game at a national level.

The issue is if we were to sack all the heads of local FFV. Football West etc then we'd lose a lot of good people. Just sucks that there are still so many leaches hanging on at the state levels to the detriment of the game.

Your not wrong Craigos.

Fans on the game in Aus can be a pretty divided bunch but I think this is one common cause where there is unison in opinion on what needs to happen.

Imo the game is basically treading water and stagnating. You might as well write it off and call them the lost years under Gallop because * all is happening in terms of growth, development or any other major KPIs that a federation should strive for.
 
Jul 5, 2011
14,859
23,788
Melbourne
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Victory,Napoli,Liverpool,Penguins
FFA criticism rejected by congress group

The congress review working group (CRWG) released a statement on Tuesday, defending the report they have submitted to FIFA and dismissing each of the six criticisms aired by FFA last week.

FIFA's member associations committee is expected to approve the CRWG's report next week and ask for it to be passed at an FFA extraordinary general meeting in September.

FFA chairman Steven Lowy and his board are strongly opposed to its key recommendations, which they believe are not in the best interests of the sport.

Four of the country's smallest state federations are also prepared to vote against it, which could force FIFA to make good on long-held threats to intervene or, at worst, suspend Australia from international competition.

The statement was released on behalf of seven of the CRWG's eight members - the heads of of the Victorian, NSW, South Australian and Western Australian federations, Professional Footballers Australia CEO John Didulica, and two A-League club representatives.

The other CRWG member, FFA director Chris Nikou, signed off on the report but is now presumed to be aligned with the rest of the FFA board in fierce opposition to it.

Much of the CRWG's response referred back to 'fine print' in their report which they believe quells most of FFA's concerns and corresponds with the global statutes FIFA says the country must abide by.

The CRWG said FFA's claim that their proposed congress restructure gave too much weight to professional football over the grassroots was "without merit and without substance."

Lowy had asserted that the proposed carve-up of votes would allow the A-League clubs to veto changes to the FFA constitution or "dictate" the election of board members on their own.

However, the CRWG said the report specifically legislated against this and put forward a "healthy and robust" system to elect FFA directors.

The CRWG also defended other aspects of the report which FFA had criticised - notably its proposed 'women's council', the pathway for special interest groups to join the congress, and planned transition for the A-League to become independent.

While FFA insists its board and management should retain ultimate control when the A-League's operating model is redesigned, the CRWG believes the process should involve "all stakeholders" in the congress.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/ffa-criticism-rejected-by-congress-group
 
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