The Australian Government has asked the Chair of the Australian Sports Commission, Hon Warwick Smith AM, to conduct the review which is expected to take between 4-5 months.

In a statement issued by Mr Arbib the review: “Will assess the structure, governance and administration of football in Australia, examine the development of its positioning for the Asian Cup and identify key opportunities to ensure the financial viability and sustainability of football in Australia.

“It will be conducted in conjunction with, and with the support of, the FFA (Football Federation Australia).”

The review comes eight years after the 2003 Crawford Report which initiated major overhauls into the way football was run is Australia.

Among those reforms was the creation of a new governing body in the FFA chaired by Frank Lowy, the introduction of the A-League and the move of Australian football into the Asian Football Confederation.

Professional Footballers Association chief executive Brendan Schwab said the new review represented the opportunity to create a second wave of reform in Australian football, eight years on from the Crawford Report.

“The Government’s decision to appoint an eminent and independent expert to conduct a review of the sport’s governance and structure to secure the sport’s long-term future is very welcome,” Schwab said. “FFA is to be applauded for its support.

“The change program for Australian football is so great that it would be naive to suggest it can be completed in a single phase. Football cannot afford to stand still.”

Schwab added: “After achieving so much under Mr Lowy since the first wave of reform, it is now time for Australian football to embrace further change.

“Vitally, change must be approached in a similarly informed and collaborative process as in 2003 in order to entrench and strengthen football’s long-term place as a major player in the Australian sports and entertainment industry.”

Schwab said the A-League was the foundation on which the game must be built in Australia and the FFA's governmental and structural relationship with the professional game was a key issue to resolve in the review.

The PFA also said there were unresolved fundamental issues in Australian football, which included;

- the maximisation, spending and distribution of the game's revenues

- succession

- the optimal location of A-League clubs and the stadia in which they play

- development of a confident football culture

- the relationship between the A-League and the underlying competition structures

- the alignment of the A-League clubs with the football communities they are designed to serve

- the relationship between the professional and the amateur games

- the comparatively high fees charged to registered participants