October 2 – The long and often controversial footballing dynasty of the Lowy family in Australia is effectively over following the endorsement of widespread governance reforms that ended a two-year power struggle and even threatened the country’s FIFA membership.
Football Federation Australia chairman Steven Lowy, whose father Frank led Australia’s doomed bid for the 2022 World Cup, confirmed he would not stand for re-election following an extraordinary general meeting and said he had “no idea” what his family’s future role in football will be.
The reforms, hammered out by a working group of FFA, FIFA and Asian Football Confederation delegates, will expand the FFA Congress from its current 10 members to 29, offering more representation to clubs, players and women.
Lowy and his supporters had fought bitterly against the changes, saying they would rob his board of its independence and transfer resources from the grassroots to the more powerful professional clubs.
However, the reforms were passed 8-2, paving the way for an expanded Congress to vote in new board directors.
“Clearly the FFA board is extremely disappointed at the outcome of today’s meeting – we believe the loser today is the principle of independent governance,” said Lowy. “The implications of today’s decision will be played out over time. As I have said, I hope for the best for the game but I fear the worst.”
The decision will almost certainly stave off the threat of further FIFA intervention in Australian football. FIFA had instructed the FFA to grow its Congress – one of the smallest in world football – issuing a final, blunt reminder on the eve of the key vote. FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura wrote to Lowy to say that FIFA “clearly anticipates that the proposed changes to the FFA Constitutions will be adopted at tomorrow’s EGM”.
That is precisely what happened but Lowy pointed to the successes of his regime over the past 15 years, including the rise of the Matildas women’s team and the Socceroos’ qualification for four consecutive men’s World Cups.
“Revenues of our game are at all-time highs,” he said. “The women’s game is particularly thriving. Suffice to say that our game today has crossed a red line, from a corporate governance model for football to one where stakeholders with vested interests will compete for power and resources as opposed to these being decided by independent members of a board.
“This is a governance regime I choose not to serve on and I reiterate that I will not offer myself for re-election at the upcoming AGM.”
The vote effectively brings the Lowy era to an end but failure to pass the reforms could have paved the way for FIFA to take over administration of the game in Australia and suspend the nation from international tournaments, including the Asian Cup.
Under Frank Lowy’s watch before he was succeeded by his son, Australia’s men qualified for their first World Cup in 32 years at the 2006 tournament in Germany and have reached all three finals since.
But Australia’s ill-fated bid for the 2022 World Cup won by Qatar was a huge blow for the Lowy administration, yielding only a single vote from FIFA’s executive committee despite squandering millions in public funds.
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