Robbie Slater: Transparency, accountability, missing as clubs’ worst fears realised
A-League clubs’ worst fears have come true with their share of the central distribution fund slashed to just $530,000 as the APL looks to ‘right the ship’, but ROBBIE SLATER asks why they have been left to cope with the fallout.
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A-League clubs’ worst fears have come true with their share of the central distribution fund slashed to just $530,000 as the APL looks to ‘right the ship’.
It is the latest in a growing list of cost cutting measures made by the APL in a bid to ‘break even’ for the first time since the split from Football Australia at the end of 2020.
But why are the clubs – who have had nothing to do with the poor governance and spending habits – left to cope with the fall-out.
Clubs had expected the distribution funding share, which was $2 million this past season, to be closer to $1 million. It is a huge difference from the $530,000 allocated by the board.
Owners didn’t expect it to be this bad.
It is just a quarter of the salary cap.
We can safely say that apart from the select clubs that are flush with cash, the days of expensive signings and marquee players are probably a thing of the past – at least for the immediate future.
So now, on top of all the other issues the APL is dealing with — like the failed broadcast deal — they will also have to work to please the disgruntled owners.
We don’t have all the answers – the APL isn’t revealing everything.
What we do know is that clubs are going to have to dig in and wait it out in the trenches for the next two years until the new broadcast deal is signed.
They need to get a better one given this is the worst broadcast deal that the A-League has ever seen.
Two things that stand out from this ordeal is the lack of transparency and accountability.
I know for a fact that some of the owners want an independent audit but the APL won’t hand over the key to the filing cabinet.
It is unusual – their annual report doesn’t provide any financial information.
All other sports do.
Even Netball Australia when it was on the brink of collapsing made its financial situation public.
The APL refuses to do so, so it is a mystery.
How do you learn from mistakes if only a few people know what the mistakes are – some of the owners don’t even know how the situation got to this point.
Most of the people involved in making these decisions in the early days, like creating KeepUP and splashing the SilverLake investment money around, are no longer involved.
But the APL still won’t reveal the finer details of the broadcast deal, why it went ahead or why the KPIs were agreed to.
APL bosses continue to tout the previous session as a success. They say the numbers are up -without providing any hard figures.
In reality the season had a great ending. The fairytale that is the Central Coast Mariners was great – but to call it a massive success is taking people for a ride.
It is time the APL delivered the cold, hard facts.
You have to look at the A-League like a big team. Nick Garcia and Stephen Conroy are the coach and assistant coach.
The team is the clubs and the owners.
You want to have good team spirit to be successful – and you are only going to get that by telling the truth.
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Originally published as Robbie Slater: Transparency, accountability, missing as clubs’ worst fears realised
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