Clubs and FFA at breaking point with crisis talks

Relations between FFA and the A-League clubs are at breaking point after the clubs forced an unscheduled meeting.

FFA chairman Steven Lowy held talks with a delegation of three A-League club owners. Picture: AAP

Relations between Football Federation Australia and A-League clubs are at breaking point after the clubs forced the controlling body into an unscheduled meeting yesterday.

The Australian understands a delegation made up of three club owners held talks with FFA chairman Steven Lowy late in the ­afternoon, almost a day after the two parties had met to discuss ­proposed reforms to FFA’s voting structure.

The owners and chairmen of the clubs were left frustrated with the way Tuesday’s three-hour meeting was conducted and regarded it as a waste of time.

They were upset that they were allowed little input, with suggestions they were unimpressed by the “this is the way it is going to be” attitude of FFA.

The parties were due to meet again in several weeks ahead of an extraordinary general meeting that will see some changes to FFA’s constitution.

T he Australian has learned that under the proposed new structure, FFA’s congress will be increased from the current 10-member ­voting system to 17 votes.

That will see the nine state and territory federations retain their votes, the A-League clubs’ votes to increase from one to three, and five new members (with one vote each) added — the referees, Futsal, the players union, the women’s game and beach football.

The clubs argue that under the new reforms they will have just 18 per cent of the voting rights, which is well down on the 40 per cent they are seeking.

Even in the days of FFA’s predecessor, Soccer Australia, the clubs involved with the since disbanded National Soccer League had 27 per cent of the votes between them.

The A-League clubs also believe that the proposed new ­system will still allow FFA to maintain full control over the sport, because the five new voting entities are well looked after by state and territory federations.

But the clubs are not only unhappy with that situation. Indications are they were left gob­smacked by FFA’s inflexibility.

Yesterday’s unscheduled meet­ing with Lowy sought to clarify whether what the FFA proposed at Tuesday’s discussions was going to be its final position on the matter. If it is, the stage is set for an explosive couple of weeks leading up to the EGM.

The clubs are ready for a fight. They are clearly united and are prepared to dig in their heels to get a better outcome, not just regarding the voting structure but in terms of the financial returns to the clubs from the $360 million broadcast rights deal that was sealed late last year.

They have long argued that they don’t get a fair deal from FFA, given the A-League provides close to 80 per cent of its revenue. Currently, the 10 clubs receive $2.5m each in distributions, which allows them to cover the salary cap. They are seeking as much as $6m each.

FFA held talks with the state and territory federations on Monday in a meeting that is understood to have gone smoothly. FFA is highly unlikely to meet with resistance to the changes from them.

FFA will next meet with rep­resentatives from Professional Footballers Australia, the peak body for professional players.

Meanwhile, Victoria Patriots, who are bidding for Victoria’s third A-League licence, have unveiled an advisory board as they step up plans for inclusion in the national competition. The board will be made up of Joanne Plummer, Paul Sergeant and Maurice Bisetto.

Plummer is part owner of Heels International, a women’s networking organisation. She is also chairman of the board at ­Barwon Water, non-executive director for Vic Water and chairman for the Geelong Regional Football Committee.

Sergeant is director of PMY Group and has run some of the world’s best stadiums, including Wembley, the Millennium Stad­ium in Cardiff, Suncorp in Brisbane and Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

Bisetto is an audit partner at KPMG and is president of Moreland City Football Club.