FIFA and AFC to visit in 2018

A delegation from FIFA and AFC are expected in Australia in February to help resolve the problems with the FFA Congress.

Below are statements from FFA and the A-League clubs.

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FFA Statement

Football Federation Australia (FFA) will establish a Congress Review Working Group including all relevant Australia stakeholders with direct support from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Officials from FIFA and the AFC will travel to Australia in the New Year to work with FFA and other stakeholders to agree terms of reference for the group including objectives, composition, mandate and timeline.

FIFA’s Members Association Committee made the decision to support the establishment of the working group at its recent meeting in Zurich where FFA’s efforts to expand its representative Congress were discussed. A resolution to increase representation for the professional game and for women narrowly failed to reach the 75 percent support of Congress members at FFA’s Annual General Meeting on November 30.

Football Federation Australia Chairman Steven Lowy welcomed FIFA’s decision and thanked the Members Association Committee for its support of FFA’s recommendation that a working group be established with Australian stakeholders, FIFA and AFC.

“FIFA’S ruling gives all of us a chance to take a fresh look at how the Congress can best represent the Australian football community, with the direct involvement of FIFA and AFC officials in that process,” he said.

“In a wider sense, this process will enable all Australian stakeholders to work together on a shared vision for our game at every level.

“In the meantime, FFA will be working with the clubs to promote our Summer of Football, engage with stakeholders on a new league operating model and expansion of the Hyundai A-League as soon as possible, continue its work with Federal and State governments on Australia’s bid for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, appoint a new Head Coach for the Caltex Socceroos and continue our preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”

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Statement from A-League Clubs

The Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA) notes the FIFA Associations Committee decision communicated on the 6th of December 2017. Specifically that the Committee “eventually decided to”:

“Support the establishment of a Congress review working group provided that FIFA and AFC are fully involved in the process and that a clear roadmap ensuring a timely conclusion with the adoption of a more inclusive and representative membership model is established,

That “To this end, a FIFA/AFC mission will visit Sydney early next year with the following objectives:

• To meet with the stakeholders (Member Federations, A-League clubs, PFA) and any other relevant interlocutors, such as the Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC), that have been established in the meantime.
• Based on the feedback received, to define the terms of reference of the Congress review working group, which include its objective, composition, mandate and timeline.”

The APFCA notes that once again FIFA has NOT identified the FFA Board and Administration as a stakeholder in the matter of Congress Reform and welcomes the fact that it will be FIFA and the AFC that will define the terms of reference of the Congress review working group – including its objectives composition, mandate and the timely completion of its work.

The APFCA is also surprised and disappointed by the FFA Press statement issued today on this matter. Its misleading nature and disconnect from the information clearly communicated by the FIFA Deputy Secretary General in his correspondence, is indicative of the approach that the FFA Board and Senior Management has exhibited consistently with regard to the Congress Reform matter.

Commenting on the Associations Committee Decision Greg Griffin, Chairman of APFCA said:

“Whilst this process should have been completed in March of this year, we welcome FIFA and AFC’s promised definitive intervention in the process and their commitment to a timely resolution. Australia deserves a first-world congress aligned with the principles of representative democracy and recognizing the importance of gender equality.”

He added “The FFA Board needs to be accountable for their mishandling of this matter over the last 14 months and the way that our game has suffered as a result. It is now glaringly obvious to all that the Gerrymander present within the FFA Board must be ended and for the sake of the whole of the Australian football family a new democratic dynamic be installed so that the whole game can grow through a new era of collaboration among all stakeholders and an FFA Board without self-interest.”

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The above statements were issued on 7 December 2017.  We have posted these to clarify the positions taken by the different parties.