Where’s the money gone? Fears champagne-sipping FA have cruelled next-gen Matildas

The Matildas failure to get out of the group stage of the Olympics has thrust a burning spotlight on a game that is already in crisis at a domestic level. It’s about to get worse.

Football Australia executive CEO James Johnson stands accused of sending the round-ball game backwards by wasting huge amounts of money on the Matildas in Paris that has the potential to cruel any hope of competing on the world stage in the future.

The Matildas failure to get out of the group stage of the Olympics has thrust a burning spotlight on a game that is already in crisis at a domestic level.

It’s about to get worse.

FA CEO James Johnson is now under the microscope after a disastrous Matildas’ campaign in Paris. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

This column has learned that the lavish treatment of the Australian women’s team and the expensive cheerleading by FA executives in Paris has sparked private fears from the game’s next-generation of players that they will be the ones that suffer the most.

Serious questions are being asked.

Will the private jets and champagne-sipping junket for FA executives cost future Matildas and future Socceroos a crucial training camp or trip to compete against international competition?

Why is the FA going on a worldwide search to replace head coach Tony Gustavsson when they have had four years to develop coaches from their own backyard?

If the FA are blind to the fact that there is a gaping hole in the development of the next Matildas then they must not have noticed who replaced superstar Sam Kerr.

While in no way an attack on Michelle Heyman, who provided genuine impact when called upon, the mere fact that the Matildas required the 36-year-old veteran in Paris speaks to the issue of player development within the sport.

The proof is also in the numbers and why instead of pampering the Matildas, the FA should be cultivating the game’s grassroots.

Australia has played once in 18-years in an under-20 women’s World Cup.

Michelle Heyman’s recall was a story of redemption, but also pointed to a worrying fact around development. Picture: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

The under-20 men’s side hasn’t played in a World Cup since 2013.

In addition, the Australian under-23 men’s team has made just one Olympics – in Tokyo three years ago – since 2008.

There’s no denying the powerful brand of the Matildas. Their growth as a national identity is nothing short of inspiring.

But the FA are clinging to a unicorn while below the national team, the rest of the game is bleeding.

The A-League – run separately by the Australian Professional League – is in financial crisis.

Football fans in Australia are stuck with a failed TV deal with Paramount that leaves them needing Google maps to find an A-League game to watch.

The inquiry into Matildas early flight home from Paris shouldn’t end with the head of Gustavsson.

As the most senior decision-maker in the game, Johnson is responsible for this mess too.