FFA Congress
Sport Australia CEO, Kate Palmer, has now written to FFA's state member federations and A-League clubs to say that their expression of as yet largely unspecified concerns over the governance recommendations of the Congress Review Working Group (CRWG) is not 'political interference' but justifiable because of the $18 million given to football in the past five years. Gatt reports that in her latest letter, the Sport Australia CEO raises concerns remarkably similar to those already raised by the FFA Board and specifically the "exceptionally high number" of 17 standing committees.
Hey Kate! First, to suggest that having standing committees elected by the Congress means the Board is subservient to them completely misses the point. The purpose of the standing committees is for stakeholders to have their advice and opinions heard - something that hasn't happened in the past 15 years. Second, where was Sport Australia (then Australian Sports Commission) a little less than five years ago when FFA's then Chairman passed the chairmanship of the organisation to his son - which had been the plan since at least 2008 - after an alleged 'national search'? Did that not ever raise any governance concerns with your organisation? The answer is: no, it didn't. So why now?