The FFA receive a  four-year, $32 million grant which will end this year and it’s not clear whether that will be extended.

Football has for some time been under scrutiny from other codes over the amount of funding, with lobbying continuing for the sport to be denied these vital funds. 

These calls have grown louder after the federal government pitched in $45m for the FFA’s failed World Cup bid – although in global terms this is a relatively small amount.

It’s eight years since the fundamental reform of the Crawford Report helped usher in the Lowy era at FFA. Since then the game has progressed in leaps and bounds, but PFA boss Brendan Schwabwarned against the sport “standing still" and hoped the improvements made by Smith's paper would strengthen the game's hand at funding time.  

“As we look at the game today,” Schwab told au.fourfourtwo.com. “We’re operating in a very different environment and the competitive pressures on Australian football has only increased.

“Not only have we seen the dramatic development of the sports who which we compete with domestically, but also the transformation of many nations in Asia [during this time].”

However, some have questioned the need for a review in the first place, citing the code's apparent fascination with employing independent consultants to disect and decide the code's way forward. The FFA argue the review is a "partnership" between them and the government.

Schwab added that there were questions about the way the A-League had been structured.

And he said football deserves preferential government treatment as it competes in a global environment and has such a strong grassroots appeal. 

“We need to structure the A-League in a way that is going to maximise the level of interest among football fans. And first and foremost you should be placing teams where the fans are.

“We had teams in Auckland and the Gold Coast before we have a team in the heartland of the game, the west of Sydney, where there are hundreds of thousands of people who love football.”

Schwab also questioned why the costs were relatively high to play the game at the grassroots level.“One of the keys has to be building the game and engaging the game at grassroots with the mass participation levels."

He added: "Community engagement has been one of the fundamental problems [of the game]".