Give this board the boot

Football Federation under fire as calls for top-level reform grow

THE man spearheading a push for a national second division to sit underneath the ALeague has expressed hope the Football Federation Australia board is sacked.

Association of Australian Football Clubs chairman Rabieh Krayem believes the time is ripe for change at FFA as the prospect of a FIFA normalisation committee beckons.

It comes after FFA’s failed attempt to push through a new congress model at Thursday’s annual meeting, which has left Steven Lowy’s leadership hanging by a thread.

FIFA will decide next week whether it should intervene in the running of the game, something FFA will be keen to avoid through intense lobbying in coming days.

Krayem, who spent Tuesday locked in meetings with FFA chief executive David Gallop over his proposal for a second-tier competition, is hopeful the world governing body chooses to swing the axe and gives AAFC a seat at the table in a new-look congress.

“I think it’s time for change,” Krayem, the former chairman of the defunct North Queensland Fury, wrote on the Football Today website.

“The game has made some giant steps in the 14 years since a Lowy was in charge. However, what I do know is that in ‘club-land’ the game is stagnating at best, going backwards at worst.

“It’s why we believe that we also should have a seat (or more) at the Congress table if — as I assume and hope — a FIFA normalisation committee comes in.”

Meanwhile, Professional Footballers Australia chief executive John Didulica said the saga showed how much the sport needed reform in Australia.

“What this process has exposed is the current limitations of the existing governance structure, both in terms of reaching consensus, and in driving key policy matters that the game requires,” Didulica said in a statement.

“Some of the most powerful stakeholders within football have recognised that the current structure just does not work. We need to now shift our focus into reaching consensus, and ensuring that should FIFA become involved in Australian football, we work within the footballing structures to resolve the challenges that we are facing.”

A spokesperson for FIFA said it was following the matter closely. The Asian Football Confederation did not respond to a request for comment, while Football Federation Victoria chairman Kimon Taliadoros declined to speak after the vote at the annual meeting that.