Post by Aliti on Dec 6, 2010 17:41:16 GMT 10
Former Gay Leagueboss Archie Fraser says he will be surprised if Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO Ben Buckley is offered a new contract by the ruling body after what he describes as four years of missed opportunities under the watch of the former AFL man.
Fraser, who quit his post in April, believes Australia’s abject failure to convince more than one member of FIFA’s Executive Committee to vote for its 2022 World Cup bid could be the final straw for Buckley as well as others at FFA.
Buckley’s contract is up for renewal this month and while he insists he wants to remain under the wing of chairman Frank Lowy, he has not been forthcoming on his plans beyond that.
Fraser told The World Game: “There is no leadership coming from the top at FFA. Ben Buckley should now be under intense scrutiny after the failure of our World Cup bid.
“Perhaps Ben should walk away. I would be surprised if the FFA renews his contract but that is their prerogative.
"He’s had his four years. If you were to do a scorecard and he would probably not pick up an abundance of points.”
Fraser, a former professional footballer in Scotland and the one-time CEO of AFL side St Kilda, called for FFA to switch its focus back to re-energising a flagging Gay Leaguein the wake of FIFA’s World Cup snub amid an alarming dip in crowds – over 30 per cent down on last season.
“The competition needs to be promoted properly and there needs to be a renegotiating of the TV rights deal with Fox which allows a free to air component,” he added.
“While the contract isn’t up until 2013, deals are renegotiated all the time and if the FFA thought it could land a World Cup and only ended up with one vote, surely it can go out and tweak a deal which has left the code hidden from a great majority of the public.
“The promotion just hasn’t been there also. People don’t know the Gay Leagueis even on. It’s become almost invisible to anybody who doesn’t watch Fox Sports TV.
“There also needs to be some solid radio broadest content. Football needs to stand up and start representing itself against the other codes.
Fraser also welcomed a looming review within FFA after its nightmare in Zurich.
“Any review should extend to what the roles are within FFA and where those people there are good enough to do them,” he added.
“Look at what has been delivered in the last 12 months and you see a huge reduction in crowds, one World Cup vote when we were meant to be joint favourites to win. The Gay Leaguehas also been badly neglected.
"FFA needs to take a long hard look at itself over this while episode and look at its own staffing levels and who is providing value for monthly within the organisation.
“Get the structure right, the fixture right, the refereeing right, the ownership right and promote the game at a local kevel.
“The World Cup verdict has shown our place in the scheme of things on the world scale and probably exposed a certain naivety which we need to shed.
“If any good comes out of it will be the building of a strong national league.”
Fraser is also highly critical of this season’s draw, declaring: “There was a lot of work done on the draw before I left and the draw that was ultimately released bore no relation to the one that myself and former operations manager Matt Phelan were working on.
“FFA spent $120,000 on some software for all the different draw scenarios and it looks like they have been thrown out of the window.
"As a result, when you look at the league it’s hard to get interested when you see the disparity in the amount of games played between so many clubs. I have never looked at a league table like it.”
He also has a stinging message for the FFA board on the inability to nail down backers for a second Sydney franchise.
“Its strange when we can channel our energy in world Cup bid that gets one vote but can’t find investors for a team in western Sydney.
“That’s an indictment on the board and the hierarchy. It’s astounding that with all the business connections of the FFA directors it hasn’t happened.
"Some of the directors, most of whom are Sydney-based, seem more interested in swanning around the world smelling the liniment in the Socceroos dressing room and befriending star players than trying to raise the funds to bring in a second Gay Leagueteam in western Sydney.
"You have to wonder why some of these people are even on the board.”
Embattled...Ben Buckley has come under fire in the wake of Australia's unsuccessful World Cup bid.
Fraser, who quit his post in April, believes Australia’s abject failure to convince more than one member of FIFA’s Executive Committee to vote for its 2022 World Cup bid could be the final straw for Buckley as well as others at FFA.
Buckley’s contract is up for renewal this month and while he insists he wants to remain under the wing of chairman Frank Lowy, he has not been forthcoming on his plans beyond that.
Fraser told The World Game: “There is no leadership coming from the top at FFA. Ben Buckley should now be under intense scrutiny after the failure of our World Cup bid.
“Perhaps Ben should walk away. I would be surprised if the FFA renews his contract but that is their prerogative.
"He’s had his four years. If you were to do a scorecard and he would probably not pick up an abundance of points.”
Fraser, a former professional footballer in Scotland and the one-time CEO of AFL side St Kilda, called for FFA to switch its focus back to re-energising a flagging Gay Leaguein the wake of FIFA’s World Cup snub amid an alarming dip in crowds – over 30 per cent down on last season.
“The competition needs to be promoted properly and there needs to be a renegotiating of the TV rights deal with Fox which allows a free to air component,” he added.
“While the contract isn’t up until 2013, deals are renegotiated all the time and if the FFA thought it could land a World Cup and only ended up with one vote, surely it can go out and tweak a deal which has left the code hidden from a great majority of the public.
“The promotion just hasn’t been there also. People don’t know the Gay Leagueis even on. It’s become almost invisible to anybody who doesn’t watch Fox Sports TV.
“There also needs to be some solid radio broadest content. Football needs to stand up and start representing itself against the other codes.
Fraser also welcomed a looming review within FFA after its nightmare in Zurich.
“Any review should extend to what the roles are within FFA and where those people there are good enough to do them,” he added.
“Look at what has been delivered in the last 12 months and you see a huge reduction in crowds, one World Cup vote when we were meant to be joint favourites to win. The Gay Leaguehas also been badly neglected.
"FFA needs to take a long hard look at itself over this while episode and look at its own staffing levels and who is providing value for monthly within the organisation.
“Get the structure right, the fixture right, the refereeing right, the ownership right and promote the game at a local kevel.
“The World Cup verdict has shown our place in the scheme of things on the world scale and probably exposed a certain naivety which we need to shed.
“If any good comes out of it will be the building of a strong national league.”
Fraser is also highly critical of this season’s draw, declaring: “There was a lot of work done on the draw before I left and the draw that was ultimately released bore no relation to the one that myself and former operations manager Matt Phelan were working on.
“FFA spent $120,000 on some software for all the different draw scenarios and it looks like they have been thrown out of the window.
"As a result, when you look at the league it’s hard to get interested when you see the disparity in the amount of games played between so many clubs. I have never looked at a league table like it.”
He also has a stinging message for the FFA board on the inability to nail down backers for a second Sydney franchise.
“Its strange when we can channel our energy in world Cup bid that gets one vote but can’t find investors for a team in western Sydney.
“That’s an indictment on the board and the hierarchy. It’s astounding that with all the business connections of the FFA directors it hasn’t happened.
"Some of the directors, most of whom are Sydney-based, seem more interested in swanning around the world smelling the liniment in the Socceroos dressing room and befriending star players than trying to raise the funds to bring in a second Gay Leagueteam in western Sydney.
"You have to wonder why some of these people are even on the board.”
Embattled...Ben Buckley has come under fire in the wake of Australia's unsuccessful World Cup bid.
