A-League divorce a priority for FFA boss

New FFA boss James Johnson will get to work on sorting out the messy divorce from the Australian leagues.

Newly appointed FFA boss James Johnson addresses the media on Wednesday Picture: AAP

New Football Federation Australia chief executive James Johnson will work on sorting out the messy divorce of the Australian leagues and the governing body plus tackling the high registration costs for juniors across the country.

Johnson outlined his vision and list of priorities, which include “unbundling” the A-League from the FFA, the joint Australia-New Zealand bid for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and reviewing the different domestic competitions.

He stopped short of putting a time frame on unravelling the leagues from the FFA given the complicated negotiations among stakeholders.

“The first (priority) is the unbundling of the A-League,” Johnson said. “We need to finalise a governance model where both the league and the FFA need each other to both grow.

“We talked about the FFA being a unifier and connector. We need a strong view on stakeholder strategies and management.

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“It’s hard for me to put a deadline on it, it’s only my third day in the office.

As soon as possible is the best answer. As soon as we can be clear what the model is and what the roles and responsibilities are of the different organisations are the better because we can be more efficient.”

The A-League clubs sought to become independent from the FFA and reap the financial benefits of their work with an in-principle agreement ­finalised in July 2019. The agreement set the separation in stone with some formalities still to be completed.

But the ratification of independence is being held up by uncertainties over negotiations of the next TV deal, with the current agreement set to expire in 2023.

The independence of the A-League may not be finalised until a new TV deal is signed.

The cost of player registration fees across the country is an issue Johnson, as a former player, highlighted as the “most common complaint” that he has faced since being announced as David Gallop’s replacement in December.

“I think what we need to do is diagnose what the problem is and spend some time understanding which part of the game where registration costs are a problem,” said Johnson. “Is it at the grassroots level? Or is it at the more elite level of youth development? I think we need to look at how the money flows are working and where the costs are going to. Once we’ve done a proper diagnosis, we need to create solutions.”

Parents are having to pay exorbitant fees for their children to receive coaching with suspicions that some clubs use their academy fees on their senior teams, while private academies charge excessive fees to parents, essentially pricing people out of the game.

In NSW, registration fees for this year’s Football NSW competitions range from $1500 to $2650 for age groups 10 to 16 years.

As for a competition under the A-League, Johnson said: “We don’t have a second-tier competition, but these discussions are happening and I don’t see any reason why we cannot have a second-tier competition.”

The Daily Telegraph