FIFA close to taking over Football Federation Australia, to appoint committee

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, is a step closer to taking over Football Federation Australia (FFA) to resolve prevailing issues in Australia's soccer Congress. The FFA have until the Nov. 30 deadline to revamp its voting structure.

On Thursday, after a seven-hour meeting between officials from FFA and FIFA in Melbourne, it was announced that soccer's world governing body would intervene if consensus is not reached by the deadline. FIFA would permanently remove FFA chairman Steven Lowy and his board and install a new committee, referred to as a “normalisation committee.”

The three parties involved in the voting structure -- the A-League clubs, players' union and state federations -- have all been steadfast with their preferred make-up of votes. The state federations are reportedly in favour of a 9-4-1-1 share that would see the states retain four votes, four for the A-League clubs and one vote apiece for the Professional Footballers Australia and women's football.

Both the clubs and players' union are in favour of a 9-5-1-1 voting structure. In a letter to stakeholders, Steven Lowy said an EGM must take place on Oct. 23. "Naturally we are seeking to avoid extending the timetable if at all possible particularly as there are AFC commitments in the last two weeks of November," Lowy wrote on Sept. 18.

After Thursday's seven-hour meeting, Lowy acknowledged the challenges faced by the FFA. "Clearly off the pitch, there are big unresolved issues. But we remain cautiously optimistic those issues will be put to bed and we can settle into the first round of the A-League and W-League with the focus firmly on what happens within the white lines over 90 minutes each week," he told AAP. The FFA Annual General Meeting will take place on Nov. 15.