Big gun on Stajcic sacking panel

The man who masterminded Sydney’s successful Olympic bid will be part of the inquiry into the sacking of the Matildas coach.

Sacked Matildas coach Alen Stajcic.

The man who masterminded Sydney’s successful bid to host the 2000 Olympics will be part of the inquiry into the sacking of Matildas coach Alen Stajcic in January.

Consultant Rod McGeoch has been asked to join a panel of three experts to conduct a review of Football Federation Australia’s senior management, including the build-up to the decision to sack Stajcic just five months before this year’s World Cup.

Already dealing with one political minefield in examining the merits of establishing a drop-in cricket wicket at the SCG, Mr McGeoch is seen as a respected figure in sports management who is independent of football’s politics, with sentiment over Stajcic’s exit still rancorous in some quarters.

A deputy chairman of the SCG Trust and on the board of Destination NSW, Mr McGeoch is expected to accept the invitation to be part of a review into an episode that did huge damage to FFA’s reputation. Mr McGeoch was appointed by the SCG Trust to examine the AFL’s request to dig up the existing surface and replace it with a drop-in wicket at the historic ground, a move fiercely opposed by Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW.

It’s believed two senior businesswomen have also been approached to join the FFA panel, whose remit is likely to include the way the governing body ­carried out Stajcic’s dismissal, leading to a formal public apology to him from both the organisation and one of its directors, Heather Reid.

It’s understood that the exact parameters of the review have not yet been set, although the FFA board is keen to get it under way a month after the Matildas were knocked out of the World Cup at the round of 16 under Stajcic’s successor, Ante Milicic.

The performance of senior personnel is almost certain to come into focus, though chief executive David Gallop has resigned and is serving notice before departing at the end of the year and company secretary Jo Setright left the FFA in April.

FFA’s board is aware it has a unique opportunity to reshape the organisation’s leadership and culture in the wake of the agreement with A-League clubs for the competition to become independent of FFA control.

Mr Gallop’s successor will oversee a governing body focused on the top and bottom of the game, the national teams and the grassroots, and the figure ­appointed is almost certain to come from within the game for the first time since Frank Lowy was tasked with rebuilding the whole sport more than a decade and a half ago.

John Didulica, chief executive of the players union, is seen as the leading candidate, though club CEOs including Tony Pig­nata of Perth Glory and Sydney FC’s Danny Townsend have also been linked with the role.

FFA declined to comment while Mr McGeoch was approached but had not responded at the time of publication.