FFA chairman Steven Lowy issues call to arms over game’s future and fires broadside at A-League clubs

FFA chairman Steven Lowy has written a 2000-word “manifesto” that seeks to persuade FIFA, and many within the sport here, that he is the man to lead the game out of its civil war.

FOOTBALL Federation Australia chairman Steven Lowy is staking his position at the head of Australian football on a call to arms that seeks to persuade FIFA, and many within the sport here, that he is the man to lead the game out of its civil war.

IN FULL: Read Lowy’s ‘message to the football community’ here

Just 72 hours before a FIFA delegation arrives to rule on the future structure of the sport, Lowy’s “message to the football community” fires a broadside across the bows of the A-League club owners, and warns the game’s grassroots they would be harmed by funnelling more resources to the A-League.

The 2000-word document spells out why he believes an independent A-League cannot be allowed, and accuses the clubs of engineering a “return to the bad old days of self-interest” from which football would “suffer the inevitable results”.

Amid a series of claims that will infuriate the A-League clubs, Lowy says the game must decide whether it is “managed on behalf of all of those who participate in and love the game or is controlled by narrow interests”.

FFA Chairman Steven Lowy insists he is the man to lead football in Australia out of its civil war.

He also disputes the level of losses claimed to have been incurred by the club owners, and tells them they are in any case investing in an appreciating asset.

After a series of acrimonious verbal and written exchanges over the past few months, Lowy’s missive underlines the entrenched positions of both “sides” in a battle for control that has pitched the clubs against the board of FFA.

The FIFA delegation will rule on whether compromise can be reached on the sharing of power in FFA’s Congress — the annual meeting that elects the board. So far FFA has offered only three votes to the A-League clubs, including one for the W-League teams, out of a proposed 13 in total, with the players’ union getting one.

FFA has promised that other interest groups, like referees and futsal, would eventually be given a vote in a second stage of reform, but the A-League clubs have demanded at least 25 per cent of the total number of votes.

In his statement, Lowy says the A-League “was created by FFA on behalf of the whole football community and is for the benefit of that football community... For much of its short history, the A-League has been subsidised by other revenues such as those generated from Socceroos matches and government grants.”

In effect he is warning the clubs that they don’t “own” the league, just a week after their collective body, the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, explicitly called for an independent A-League.

Lowy also claims that the A-League consumes some 60 per cent of FFA’s income, but says the clubs want to take that closer to 80 per cent through a larger central grant — cutting money available for the Socceroos and grassroots by half to $23m. He also notes that half the clubs are foreign owned “with little or no connection to Australian community football or our national teams”.

IN FULL: Read Lowy’s ‘message to the football community’ here

All three parties involved — the clubs, players union and FFA — are likely to come under extreme pressure from FIFA to find a compromise that can be in place by November. Otherwise FIFA will sack the current leadership — FFA’s board — and install a so-called “normalisation committee” to take charge.