Football in Australia now in a state of complete flux, writes Tom Smithies

THIS was a day of firsts. The first time since the A-League was established that the direction of football as dictated by FFA wasn’t just nodded through.

FFA chairman Steven Lowy on Thursday.

THIS was a day of firsts. The first time since the A-League was established that the direction of football as dictated by FFA wasn’t just nodded through. The first time that people who could say no, did say no. And the first time that those people said no to a Lowy.

It’s hard to overstate the significance of the events of Thursday afternoon in the landscape of the game here. Since 2003, when the Howard government gave money to reboot soccer into football and start the game all over again, the name Lowy has dominated everything.

UNCERTAINTY: Football in chaos as vote falls short

On the domestic scene Frank swept all before him, running the effective dictatorship that was needed at the start. But at key points along the way, when the constituents began to question the wisdom of being told their opinions, that one-track approach began to sow the seeds of where we are now.

It is Steven Lowy’s lot in life that he inherited the game from his father at a point when the movement of the tectonic plates could not be stepped over. The A-League clubs are united and well resourced, and determined to split the competition away from FFA. The two biggest state associations are run by independent thinkers who would not fall into line.

FFA chairman Steven Lowy on Thursday.

The result? Australian football is now in a state of complete flux. The deadline set by FIFA for reform, and for more of the game’s stakeholders to have a meaningful say, has come and gone with the close of business today. The prospects of compromise being reached are more distant than ever after Steven Lowy’s diatribe against the clubs.

The response to Lowy’s words will be measured and targeted over the next day or so. Lowy’s reforms were rejected by the entire professional game, and by the vast majority of the amateur game as measured by participation numbers. They have not taken kindly to being told they have voted for a return to the “bad old days”.

Nor will FIFA appreciate hearing Lowy equivocate on the question of whether he would accept the world governing body’s ultimate right to dictate what happens next.

Let’s be clear. If Steven Lowy makes any attempt to resist that, the response will be instant suspension from FIFA involvement. Imagine that: being disbarred from the World Cup.

So now it is over to FIFA. Its member associations committee meets early next week, and they must recommend action to the council that sits atop FIFA.

Before then, there will be feverish attempts by key players here – the A-League clubs, the big associations, the players union – to put together a model that could avert a FIFA takeover.

Whether or not they succeed, the prospects of a Lowy continuing to head the game in Australia are diminishing rapidly.

Originally published as Football in Australia now in a state of complete flux, writes Tom Smithies