By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – One of Australia’s leading football officials has issued a damning indictment of the sport’s development in the country, insisting it needs a radical shake-up to restore credibility.
Brendan Schwab, chief executive of the Australian Professional Footballers Association, says there is no time to lose if the round-ball game is to take root in a country where cricket, Aussie Rules and both rugby codes have long been dominant.’
“Australian football is at its most challenging time in history,” said Schwab.
“Fundamental pillars of the game’s reform effort are eroding.
“Without quick and profound change, our game may not get a second chance, particularly as other football codes are cashed up, strategically savvy and more aware of the threat of football than ever before.”
Schwab said two key Government-backed recommendations for reform submitted in 2003 have yet to be carried out.
“They were about building a football nation, knowing that the legacy will be for the children of today’s football devotees,” he said.
“However, neither report has been implemented, and in that lies the seeds of the game’s discontent.”
Football’s community remains alienated and fragmented, especially after being branded as ‘old soccer’.”
Australia’s A-League, he charged, currently had little credibility. ‘
“Falling A-League crowds and financial problems have many worried about the viability of a League that is the cornerstone of the game’s development,” said Schwab.
“Quality is not the issue.
“The playing standard has been acknowledged by many former greats as being at its highest point since the inception of the League.
“Nor are player payments too high.
“Total Socceroos and A-League player payments account for less than 30 per cent of the game’s revenues, just like cricket, NRL, AFL and rugby.
“Football is simply failing to fulfil its primary obligation – to convert football fans into participants, crowds and television audiences.”
The comments of Schwab (pictured), made in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, will inevitably cast further doubt on Australia’s right to stage the 2022 World Cup as well as fuel divisions within the country’s football administration.
Recently, Archie Fraser, the former chief executive of the A-League who resigned in April, hit out at the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and warned that the league has been left to become a “basket case”.
Schwab, who also represents FIFPro, the world footballers’ union, agreed, warning of the dangers of the FFA concentrating solely on the 2022 World Cup bid to the detriment of the domestic game.
“These problems have been compounded by FFA’s decision to itself run the 2022 World Cup bid,” he said.
“Already a stretched organisation, its four mandates – the bid, the league, fielding our national teams and developing the game – have seen governance and performance suffer.
“More money is not the answer without sound strategy.
“A successful World Cup will only solve the game’s problems if the obligation of hosting football’s greatest event brings about world-class standards of governance and decision-making.”
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