These days, it seems everything is supposed to be a cancer on the game of football. Diving. Highly-paid players. Club v Country. Player agents. The long ball. Matthew Breeze (oh, wait...) The fact is though, none of these come close to the one issue that affects football more than any other. The true scourge of modern football is the one that has been with us always, particularly in Australia: politics.
First off, let’s address the ridiculous notion of breaking away from FIFA. While the initial murmurs emanated from England, sensible papers in the mother country (i.e. anything that’s not got Page 3 girls and IMMIGRANTS HAVE RUINED EVERYTHING on the front cover) have begun to question the FA’s role in everything as well as that of FIFA, and have been quick to scotch the idea of a breakaway as suicidal. After all, people these days don’t watch World Cups for England and the USA - they watch it for Brazil, Argentina, and current holders Spain - unlikely to breakaway whilst they hold the trophy.
What’s more, the last time Australia broke away from FIFA (and yes, it’s happened before) things didn’t go so well. In the early 1960s the Australian Soccer Football Association ignored demands by FIFA that its teams pay transfer fees for European players that had essentially fled their home clubs and moved with their families to Australia. Hah! We don’t have to listen to FIFA; rules are there to be ignored! Well, FIFA didn’t like this too much, and promptly expelled Australia into the footballing wilderness.
The ASFA didn’t care at first, but then decided that it actually liked the idea of touring nations and participating in international tournaments. No dice - FIFA wanted fifty thousand pounds paid to the relevant clubs - a huge amount at the time - as compensation. The ASFA balked at this sum, and soon faced problems at home. The Australian Soccer Federation had been formed by breakaway leagues in NSW, Victoria, and various other state officials - and they wanted the ASFA’s head. Violent arguments followed - during one particularly heated exchange, it is mentioned that the ASF chairman died from a heart attack - but eventually the ASFA caved to the ASF, and the latter made a token payment of 5,000 pounds to FIFA to smooth things over, which saw Australia readmitted to the governing body some three years after expulsion.
The Modern World
So, in the interest of avoiding Frank Lowy heart attacks, let’s stay with FIFA for the time being. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the World Cup fiasco, Australian football doctrine dictates that we must argue amongst ourselves and talk about retribution and recompense rather than focusing on the football itself. It’s just how we roll - the game has been around in this country for one hundred and thirty years, and yet we are still just a relative speck on the commercial sporting horizon. Why? Because we have individuals in charge who are more concerned with politics than they are with the game itself; and forever has it been so.
The Australian Soccer Association. The ASFA. The ASF. Soccer Australia. Football Federation Australia. All organisations that have come - and eventually - gone. Last one excluded of course, but it’s hard to see it lasting forever on present form. In some cases the issue has been over money, in others over individual or group power, and others still it will be about resources and infrastructure. Whatever the reason though, politics remains the single biggest hurdle to a successful Australian football scene.
Don’t for a second think that all this is a thing of the past with the A-League though - what about the failure to keep on-board John O’Neill, whom many thought had sound ideas to build a solid foundation for Australian football? What about the disaster that was Matt Carroll, and his comparison of the A-League to the NFL, and the idea of moving or rebranding franchises at will? The angry letters from former FFA employees to the current bosses, or the appointing of officials who have no football background? Last but not least - what about the culture of unquestionable adherence to Frank Lowy doctrine? We can be very grateful to Mr Lowy for all that he has done for football in this country, but would you jump off a bridge if he suggested it was a great leap forward for the game?
The (International) Football Conspiracy
Don’t think this is solely an Australian problem, either. As we’ve all seen, FIFA is a political monster, answerable to no-one, who will dismiss its own employees at will if they dare to suggest that something looks a little out of the ordinary in Zurich. If you think the IOC is a hotbed of corruption, it’s got nothing on the 20-something powerbrokers controlling the world’s biggest game. That said, the Australian approach of presenting a technically sound bid with a tourist video was somewhat naive - Joe Bloggs could tell you FIFA was rubbing their collective fingers looking for ‘a little bit more’ - and it was Qatar and Russia who knew exactly what was needed. If you don’t like that approach, tough - it’s the way it is. Don’t waste your money trying, and especially don’t go whinging when you only get one vote.
Getting Dirty, Getting Clean
Australia did not win the right to host the 2022 World Cup; that much we must accept. But for any profound changes at the governing body, it also seems that FIFA will continue on their merry way - awarding World Cups as they see fit, be it to the most deserving country; or the most demanding one. On the international scene then, Australia needs to smarten up and get with the modern program. Where the IOC might have been happy with a few pearl bracelets, opal brooches, Elle’s smile, and a tourism video, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association wasn’t.
In retrospect, showcasing how poor, little, struggling Australian football could use the World Cup to beat off its sporting oppressors would have been a much smarter approach. Especially, one would think, when combined with meet and greets with the heads of some of Australia’s richest mining companies - companies with worldwide reach, who could use the association with the world game to promote their brands across the globe, in return for a ‘special relationship’ with the governing body. If this sort of approach offends you, I suggest you either a) wake up and smell the coffee, or b) get ready to grow a nice long beard waiting on the World Cup Down Under.
On the local front though, it’s time to throw off the shackles of our political past. This stupid infighting between various television stations, current and ex-FFA employees, and pundits who should know better is doing nothing but distract us from what’s really important - the game itself. There was a cracker of a game on the weekend between Brisbane and Melbourne; but you’d be forgiven for missing that because all the headlines have been about the failed World Cup bid. Is it so surprising that the game goes nowhere in this country when we are so obsessed by our own failure?
I’ve said before in these articles that the FFA needs to look at its mistakes to make a better fist of it in future - and never has this been more appropriate than for this failed bid. But let’s have that as an internal review, something to put on the backburner or run in parallel while we very publicly try to renew interest in the A-League. Whilst politics is an unfortunate necessity at international level, there’s no reason to take the same approach locally - the cloak and dagger approach has never worked out well for the national game.
The FFA now needs to come out publicly, hold their hands up and say, “We didn’t get the bid - we gave it a good shot, it didn’t come off, and we’ll look at why that is - but for now, we just want to concentrate on the national competition”. The very next step must be an assurance to fans about the future of the North Queensland franchise - it’s ridiculous that the FFA could support other clubs for so long and yet not look after one of its relative newborns with the same degree of care.
Once this is done, work must begin gathering and collating meaningful feedback from the public on the state of the league, and what needs to be improved. Then they must look towards next season - sensible fixturing, season start and end dates, quality referees, club finances, and player wages must all be on the agenda. From there, the national body needs to look forward - and they must be clear and transparent about this. What is their plan regarding the FFA Cup? How many franchises do they see the league having? How to they envisage teams moving towards financial stability? Where is Australian football heading? This must all be laid out for both the clubs and the public to see.
At a time where all parties need to come together in the interest of maintaining and developing our national competition, there is no place for the shady politicking of the past. Leave that for dealing with FIFA; throw off the ball and chain that holds the local game back, and let’s get this league moving once again.
