Football Lessons from Australia

by Harmit Singh Kamboe

If you think the Australians have a great youth program and that is the reason why they made such an impact at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, think again. Australians have a tremendous love for outdoor activities and most of their footballers play in Europe. The Socceroos managed to pull them into a team for their qualifying games and the rest is history.
The real success story in Australia has been the revitalization of their football league which will now, based on their great performance, supply the national team players for the future.

Football has never been the main sport in Australia. Aussie-rule Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Cricket have always enjoyed more popularity. A 1998 FIFA World Cup playoff defeat against Iran in 1997 remains one of Australia's most distressful sporting moments.

League Football in Australia was managed by the National Soccer League (NSL) until 2003. Financially the league had lost 65 Million Australian Dollars over three seasons (2000 to 2003). Most of the players came from European immigrant communities and were true amateurs as they held day jobs and played for the love of the game. In 2003 the Australian government instituted a review into how football was run in Australia and forced wide ranging reforms to be effected.

The main factors that forced the government to take action were:
1. Australian football not having enough funds to fly in its Europe-based players for friendlies and qualifiers in the Oceania group.
2. A TV program that highlighted the mismanagement and potential self serving arrangements at the Board level of Soccer Australia.
3.Public dissatisfaction with Australia not being at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its demand for better results.

The objectives of the Crawford report (the Government report) were clearly set out so that there would be actual solutions to the problem and a plan to implement them.
he Australian government threatened to withhold funding when reforms at the National level were delayed and were being pushed back by Soccer Australia, the football administrators. National and State units then fell in line.

The main recommendations (and lessons) out of all the 52 recommendations of the Crawford report were:

1. Recognising that a professional league is a key member of Soccer Australia, the national football body in Australia.
Once again we see that the league itself if a different entity than the football administration. This is a major structural change that is required in India.

2. Administration related changes:
a. Soccer Australia to be governed by 6 independent directors.
b. A clear separation between the Board and Management.
c. Clear cut timings and tenure for all elected officials.
d. A nominee from each state committee at the National Level (except for the players committee).
Such a manner of operating is unknown in India, perhaps not just in football but in all government undertakings and much of the private sector too. But if we want football to blossom and reach every nook and corner of our country, then we, the football fans must demand our football federation to adopt transparent practises.

3. All State members to follow an identical approach
Too often we think in India that only the apex body can solve our problems. The local arm of the administration (state associations) is never called to task. And that is our collective failing as a society and nation. Football, of course is no different. The Australian approach was to fix the national body and mandate that all state associations fall inline and implement the changes or have their funding withheld.

4. Listen to all stakeholders
a. Standing committees to articulate concerns and provide advice from players, referees and women players.
b. Members of the Players committee to be chosen directly by the players themselves.

In India, the prevailing attitude is that "listening" to others is considered a sign of weakness. Despite democracy, Indians in positions of power behave more like Mugal Emperors by issuing edicts. Taking sensible and calculated decisions after obtaining input from everyone is not a sarkari trait. Of course, the AIFF is not an exception to that. As a result we continue to fool ourselves with visions of a better tomorrow sold by the same dream merchants in power over and over again.

It is not surprising to see that all of these changes when brought in, in Australia resulted in significant changes.
The new Hyundai A League is a thriving 60 Million Australian Dollars enterprise. The TV sponsorship deal with Fox Sports is being renegotiated as viewership has surpassed all previous expectations. More than a million attendees saw a live game at one of the more than 90 matches. Of this 65% of the audience was less than 35 years of age and 40% of the audience had never been to a football match before.

In keeping with the global convention in January 2005, the Australian Soccer Association (ASA) changed its name to Football Federation Australia (FFA) and dropped the use of the term "soccer" in favour of "football".

It will not be surprising if we will be seeing the Socceroos make a more regular appearance at future World Cups.