FFA gets nowhere as FIFA pulls rank

STEVEN Lowy has met with FIFA ahead of the world body’s intervention to sort out the stand-off over Australian football’s governance.

The Football Federation Australia chairman, who has been in Europe on business, jetted into Zurich the week before last and had talks with FIFA officials.

It is understood Lowy met with chief member associations officer Joyce Cook, soon after FIFA’s member associations committee rejected FFA’s expanded congress model as unrepresentative.

The committee also threatened to disband the FFA board and establish a normalisation committee if a sufficiently democratic membership was not in place by the end of November.

While the exact nature of Lowy’s talks with FIFA is unclear, it’s understood Australian stakeholders were not informed.

FFA confirmed Lowy had been at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

It is understood A-League clubs, under the umbrella of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, have also made direct contact with Cook as the rift between FFA and the clubs turns acidic.

At the pointy end of the impasse is the make-up of the expanded congress demanded by FIFA and set to end the FFA board’s effective control.

The current 10-seat membership is made up of the nine state member federations, while the 10 A-League clubs collectively hold one vote.

FFA informed FIFA late last month it reached more than 75 per cent consensus for its since-rejected 9-3-1 model comprised of the nine state member federations, two seats for the A-league clubs and one for the W-League, and one for the players’ union Professional Footballer’s Australia (PFA).

Those who voted against that model were the A-League clubs and the largest state member federation, Football New South Wales.

They, along with PFA, want a 9-5-2 model.

Complicating the power struggle is the fight for money from the new TV deal.

Clubs are furious at FFA’s refusal to grant what they believe is a fair share of A-League revenue, having rejected FFA’s most recent offer of $3.55 million each per year – the most FFA says it can afford.

Some owners are understood to be considering legal action against FFA in an attempt to force it to reveal detail of its finances.