Familiar soundtrack of a code at war

LITTLE more than 15 years after the reset of soccer in Australia, the sacking of Matildas coach Alen Stajcic — and more particularly, its bitter, poisonous aftermath — is a 21st-century remix of some very old tunes, the soundtrack of a code tearing itself to pieces.

The brave new dawn for Australian football that was supposed to be ushered in by the end of the governance civil war has actually turned out to be a nightmare, and one from which there is no obvious exit.

Three weeks after his sacking — one that no one, least of all the man himself, saw coming — Stajcic ensured this sordid tale exploded once more with a detailed, emotional and at times forensic rebuttal of what he called the “innuendo” suffusing it all.

His contention was clear — that he had suffered “termination without cause” and that “no actions or behaviours of misconduct could be attributed to me”.

And therein lies the reason for this story continuing so explosively. Thanks to the illdiscipline of some of those in positions of authority, Stajcic had no choice but to push back hard against the conspiracy theories growing in the wake of what one director has euphemistically termed a “cultural reset”.

FFA had, Stajcic pointed out, made no claims of misconduct. But thanks to a combination of radio silence from the governing body since, and anything but silence from members of its board, his reputation is damaged by the absence of a clear, coherent narrative of what caused him to be sacked.