Governance crisis in Australian football escalates

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Bengaluru, August 1: The Football Federation Australia's (FFA) long-standing governance crisis escalated after a congress review working group (CRWG) made recommendations to FIFA for the expansion of the Australia congress after seven weeks of consultation with key stakeholders in Australian football.

The report literally puts FFA on a direct collision course with the game's global governing body as the current congress is seen as one of the smallest in world football and lacking significant female representation.

The CRWG report which met the July 31 deadline, has not been publicly released and its recommendations can only be revealed at FIFA's discretion.

FIFA commissioned the report to pressure the FFA to comply with statutes around the structure of national governing bodies after trying for several years to force change.
FIFA is reported to be ready to approve the report's recommendations and to demand they be adopted at an FFA special general meeting on September 7.

However, FFA still seemed to be in a defiant mode as evident from its chairman Steven Lowy's critical statement of the report.

"There are many elements of the report which are positive steps and wholly supported by the FFA board," Lowy said.

"However, there are also some crucial aspects of the report which the FFA board does not believe are in the best interests of the game and are inconsistent with its guiding principles," he added.

The FFA is thought to have enough support from state federations to vote down the changes. If the CRWG proposals are not passed, FIFA has the power to dismiss the FFA board and replace it with a committee which would run the game in Australia.

The FFA's objection is reportedly to the balance of votes which would exist on an enlarged congress. The CRWG recommendations would see considerably more voting power handed to owners of teams in Australia's professional A League.

State federations, who are supported by the FFA, fear that structure would diminish the power of grassroots or non-professional football. At the same time, the FFA's recommendations for reform have been rejected by FIFA.

On the field also , the Socceroos image has suffered of late and their first-round exit in the 2018 FIFA World Cup did not go well with FFA.

Empty stadiums have been a regular feature of A League matches and the face off with FIFA is something which FFA could have least wanted at this time around.

(With inputs from Agencies)