As Frank Lowy and the team who took control of Australian soccer prepare for Christmas, they can reflect that they have achieved much in a short time.
The groundwork has been done for reforming the game's administrative structure and a new constitution is on its way for the Australian Soccer Association.
The changes were designed to democratise decision-making and smash the power of the state federations and narrow interest groups. The release of $15 million of federal funding to help revamp the game was conditional on implementing those changes.
A taskforce report released a fortnight ago into the structure of the new Australian Premier League was another milestone. Setting down ambitious criteria that clubs and new franchises will need to meet to win a place in the reformed competition, it has already sparked debate and mounting corporate interest.
But Lowy and his group may have failed in their hope - which was always a long shot - of getting FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to reconsider the about-turn on Oceania's World Cup qualification path. Instead of direct entry for the region's best team, the route once again lies through the treacherous path of South America, where Uruguay and Argentina have both proved too strong for the Socceroos.
The ASA was established barely three months ago with remarkably little bloodshed, given that Lowy and his directors wound up the debt-laden Soccer Australia and dissolved contracts with media partner the Seven Network and other sponsors.
The new organisation has not hired a chief executive and this strategic appointment is of crucial importance, as will be the decision on whom to appoint to run the new Australian Premier League. Englishman Richard Johnson is acting chief executive.
The fact that Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill, the man who delivered the ARU a multi-million-dollar profit and organised the most successful rugby World Cup in history, has been mentioned as a candidate shows the clout that soccer's new management holds.
Other names mentioned include David Davies, a senior figure with the English Football Association, who has close links with Australia's soccer hierarchy.
Another possible candidate is Brendan Schwab, the former head of the Professional Footballers Association. It was the PFA's research document into the sport's future - work commissioned by Schwab and released earlier this year - that formed the basis of the taskforce's recommendations for the new league. Schwab also worked on the taskforce project.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/20/1071868697264.html
The groundwork has been done for reforming the game's administrative structure and a new constitution is on its way for the Australian Soccer Association.
The changes were designed to democratise decision-making and smash the power of the state federations and narrow interest groups. The release of $15 million of federal funding to help revamp the game was conditional on implementing those changes.
A taskforce report released a fortnight ago into the structure of the new Australian Premier League was another milestone. Setting down ambitious criteria that clubs and new franchises will need to meet to win a place in the reformed competition, it has already sparked debate and mounting corporate interest.
But Lowy and his group may have failed in their hope - which was always a long shot - of getting FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to reconsider the about-turn on Oceania's World Cup qualification path. Instead of direct entry for the region's best team, the route once again lies through the treacherous path of South America, where Uruguay and Argentina have both proved too strong for the Socceroos.
The ASA was established barely three months ago with remarkably little bloodshed, given that Lowy and his directors wound up the debt-laden Soccer Australia and dissolved contracts with media partner the Seven Network and other sponsors.
The new organisation has not hired a chief executive and this strategic appointment is of crucial importance, as will be the decision on whom to appoint to run the new Australian Premier League. Englishman Richard Johnson is acting chief executive.
The fact that Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill, the man who delivered the ARU a multi-million-dollar profit and organised the most successful rugby World Cup in history, has been mentioned as a candidate shows the clout that soccer's new management holds.
Other names mentioned include David Davies, a senior figure with the English Football Association, who has close links with Australia's soccer hierarchy.
Another possible candidate is Brendan Schwab, the former head of the Professional Footballers Association. It was the PFA's research document into the sport's future - work commissioned by Schwab and released earlier this year - that formed the basis of the taskforce's recommendations for the new league. Schwab also worked on the taskforce project.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/20/1071868697264.html
