Buckley has come in for some heavy criticism for his role in Australia's failed bid to win the rights to host to FIFA 2022 World Cup and there was speculation he wouldn't be offered a new contract when his deal expires at the end of the month.

A number of former players have been quite vocal in their disapproval of Buckley's tenure claiming the FFA has lacked leadership in that time.

But the under-fire CEO shrugged off criticism on Tuesday and reaffirmed his commitment to the job and declared he was ready to "roll up his sleeves" and tackle some of the issues in the game head-on.

"Frank and I spoke about it yesterday and I reaffirmed my commitment to the cause and to the challenges ahead," he said. "A lot has happened in the last few years that we can all be very proud of.

"There are some things that have not worked according to our strategy and there a lot of challenges during the course of the next five years that need to be addressed.

"And I certainly want to be part of that team and I want to lead that team. We've got an outstanding group of people committed to growing the game and I want to be part of it."

FFA Chairman Frank Lowy said he had great confidence in Buckley as the man to lead the game in Australia into a new era.

"He works very hard. He puts his life on the line, every day, every week and every month," Lowy said. "When there's a job to do, he'll do it. Is he perfect? No.

"But we are loyal to our people, particular the ones that work hard and I can assure you will succeed in out endeavour to make the game more popular than what it is today."

Buckley said the first issue he wanted to tackle was issues in the A-League, with a number of club's suffering a sharp drop in crowds while the future of North Queensland remains very much in limbo.

He confirmed next season's A-League competition would likely start later, there would probably be less midweek matches and a decision on a second Sydney team could be made as early as this week.