Football Australia is the
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken g ...
of
soccer,
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...
, and
beach soccer within Australia,
headquartered in
Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only established in 1961 as the Australian Soccer Federation. It was later reconstituted in 2003 as the Australian Soccer Association before adopting the name of Football Federation Australia in 2005. In contemporary identification, a corporate decision was undertaken to institute that name to deliver a "more united football" in a deliberation from the current CEO, James Johnson. The name was changed to Football Australia in December 2020.
Football Australia oversees the
men's,
women's
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as " women's rights" to denote female humans rega ...
, youth,
Paralympic,
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
and
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...
national teams in Australia, the national coaching programs and the state governing bodies for the sport. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur soccer in Australia. Football Australia made the decision to leave the
Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. I ...
(OFC), for which it was a founding member, and become a member of the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
(AFC) on 1 January 2006 and
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) on 27 August 2013.
History
Football Australia's origins lie as far back as 1911, with the formation of the "Commonwealth Football Association". This body was then superseded by the Australian Soccer Football Association, which was formed in 1921, with its headquarters in Sydney.
The Australian Soccer Football Association operated for forty years, was given
FIFA provisional membership in November 1954 and this was confirmed in June 1956, however in 1960, the association disbanded after being suspended from FIFA for the poaching of players from overseas.
In 1961 the Australian Soccer Federation was formed as a potential successor to the former governing body for the sport. However, this association was refused re-admittance to FIFA until outstanding fines had been paid, which was later done in 1963, seeing the new national body admitted to FIFA.
Isolated from international football, Australia repeatedly applied to join the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
in 1960, and in 1974 but were denied in all requests. Australia with
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
eventually formed the Oceania Football Federation (now
Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. I ...
) in 1966.
Australia resigned as an
OFC member in 1972 to pursue membership with the
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
, but they rejoined in 1978.
In 1995, the Australian Soccer Federation formally changed its name to Soccer Australia.
In 2003, following Australia's failure to qualify for the
2002 FIFA World Cup, allegations of fraud and mismanagement were levelled at Soccer Australia by elements within the Australian Press including the ABC. Soccer Australia commissioned an independent inquiry known as the
Crawford Report as a result of the Australian Government's threat to withdraw funding to the sport. The Australian Government could not interfere as any political interference would have constituted a breach of FIFA Statutes. The findings of the report were critically analysed by the board of Soccer Australia who believed that the recommendations contained therein were not capable of being implemented. The report recommended, among other things, the reconstitution of the governing body with an interim board headed by prominent businessman
Frank Lowy. Some three months after Lowy's appointment Soccer Australia was placed into liquidation and Australia Soccer Association (ASA) was created without encompassing the Crawford Report recommendations and effectively disenfranchising all parties who had an interest in Soccer Australia. The Australian Government provided approximately $15 million to the ASA.
On 1 January 2005, ASA renamed itself to Football Federation Australia (FFA), aligning with the general international usage of the word "
football", in preference to "soccer", and to also distance itself from the failings of the old Soccer Australia. It coined the phrase "old soccer, new football" to emphasise this.
On 1 January 2006, Football Federation Australia moved from the
OFC to the
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
.
The move was unanimously endorsed by the AFC Executive Committee on 23 March 2005, and assented by the OFC on 17 April. The FIFA Executive Committee approved the move on 29 June, noting that "as all of the parties involved ... had agreed to the move, the case did not need to be discussed by the FIFA Congress", and was unanimously ratified by the AFC on 10 September.
Football Australia hoped that the move would give Australia a fairer chance of qualifying for the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
and allow
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...
clubs to compete in the
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
, thereby improving the standard of Australian football at both international and club levels with improved competition in the region.
In February 2008, the Football Federation Australia formally announced their intention to bid for the
2018 FIFA World Cup,
2022 FIFA World Cup and the
2015 AFC Asian Cup. In 2010, the decision was made by Football Australia to withdraw its World Cup bid for 2018, instead focusing on a bid for the 2022 tournament. FFA failed in its $45.6 million
bid for the 2022 World Cup having received only one vote from the FIFA Executive.
In 2013, Australia was admitted as a full member to the
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), after they formally joined as an invite affiliation to the regional body in 2006.
On 29 January 2015, after the defeat of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...
during the
2015 AFC Asian Cup,
West Asian Football Federation members reportedly sought to remove Australia from the
AFC
AFC may stand for:
Organizations
* Action for Children, a UK children's charity
* AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits
* Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution
* A ...
primarily due to "Australia benefiting hugely from Asian involvement without giving much in return".
In November 2018 with numerous board positions coming to the end of their 3-year term, the bulk of the
board of directors were replaced at an
annual general meeting, as well as the departure of
Steven Lowy
Steven Mark Lowy (born 24 November 1962) is the former co-Chief Executive Officer of Westfield Corporation, a leading global shopping centre company that was acquired by French company Unibail-Rodamco in 2018 in what was one of the largest tr ...
as chair of the board, which he did in protest at major changes to the governance and voting structure in the overarching Football Australia Congress that elects the Board. His position was filled by
Chris Nikou
Chris Nikou is the current chairman of Football Federation Australia and an Australian lawyer.
Career Football
Nikou's interest in football began as a player in a local suburban competition in Melbourne. He started to become influential in f ...
. Other board members to be elected were
Heather Reid, Joseph Carrozzi and
Remo Nogarotto
Remo Nogarotto is an Australian businessman and football executive. Nogarotto is Executive Chairman for Corporate Advisory for the C|T Group (formerly Crosby Textor Group) and is a board member of Football Federation Australia.
Early life an ...
.
On 25 June 2020, Australia won the rights to co-host the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup alongside New Zealand.
On 25 November 2020, the FFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held. The FFA voted to rename itself to Football Australia. Football Australia Chief Executive, James Johnson, told the media the rebranding would not cost the organisation any money as they already owned the domain and company names. The name change was seen as a way to unify the branding with the state member federations.
On 31 December 2020, it was announced that the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...
,
W-League and
Y-League would no longer be under the jurisdiction of Football Australia in an 'unbundling' process. The newly formed
Australian Professional Leagues would take over the running of top-level football. As part of the unbundling, the Australian Professional Leagues would also obtain the exclusive right to use the intellectual property rights associated with the A-League brand.
Administration
Soccer in Australia has used a federated model of national, states and territories governing bodies since the first state body was established in New South Wales in 1882. Local associations and regional zones were set up within the states and territories as soccer expanded and from time to time informal groups of clubs have augmented the formal structures. Today, there is one national governing body, nine state and territory member federations and over 100 district, regional and local zones and associations.
*
Capital Football
Capital Football is the trading name for the ACT Football Federation Incorporated, the state governing body for soccer in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), but also has affiliated clubs based in surrounding areas of New South Wales. It ...
*
Northern NSW Football
Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...
*
Football NSW
*
Football Northern Territory
*
Football Queensland
*
Football South Australia
*
Football Tasmania
Football Tasmania (FT) is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of Tasmania. The federation oversees competitions across Tasmania, Tasmanian representative teams, and development of the sport in the state. The federation was kn ...
*
Football Victoria
*
Football West
Corporate structure
Board of directors
Senior management team
Team staff
National Indigenous Advisory Group
In November 2021, Football Australia created the inaugural National Indigenous Advisory Group (NIAG), an advisory body
[ aimed at helping to foster engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and increase their participation in the game.] NIAG is an advisory body for Football Australia, comprising 9 members of First Nations communities.
The inaugural members of the group are drawn from all levels of football as well as media, academia, and government: Frank Farina OAM, Karen Menzies (the first Indigenous Matilda), Tanya Oxtoby, Kyah Simon,[ Jade North (former Socceroos defender),] Courtney Hagan, Kenny Bedford, Selina Holtze, Professor John Maynard, Narelda Jacobs, and Football Australia's Head of Women's Football, Sarah Walsh. North and Walsh are co-chairs of the group.[
The initial focus of NIAG is on supporting and retaining First Nations players and other staff involved in the game, reviewing pathways and programs to football that impact social outcomes, fostering strategic partnerships, as well as developing employment strategies and the organisation's reconciliation action plan (RAP).][
]
Competitions
Football Australia organises several national competitions, with state-based competitions organised by the respective state governing football bodies.
* A-League Men (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2019)
* Australia Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austra ...
* National Premier Leagues
* A-League Women, formerly W-League (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2019)[
* A-League Youth, formerly Y-League (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2019)][
* ]FFA State Institute Challenge
The FFA State Institute Challenge was a youth soccer tournament organised by Football Federation Australia. The tournament was held between 2009 and 2014 at the Australian Institute of Sport headquarters in Canberra, Australia.
Format
Within a ...
* F-League
The F-League was an amateur and semi-professional futsal league endorsed and supported by Football Federation Australia and administered by Football NSW. As Australia's only endorsed national competition played under full FIFA laws of the g ...
See also
* Soccer in Australia
* Futsal in Australia
References
External links
*
Australia at FIFA.com
{{Authority control
Soccer governing bodies in Australia
Australia
1961 establishments in Australia
Sports organizations established in 1961
Organisations based in Sydney