Lowy to roll up sleeves at Congress talks
Aug 7, 2017 - 8:30 AM Embattled FFA chief Steven Lowy will take centre stage during crunch talks on the sport's future in Sydney next week.Delegates representing A-League clubs, players, FIFA and the Asian football confederation, second-tier clubs and member federations are jetting in ahead of power-sharing meetings.
Each group will arrive with different frustrations, and come armed with a different agenda.
Lowy will throw himself into the fray, volunteering to personally chair each meeting to help find resolution on the issues that threaten the sport's viability in Australia.
The chief question centres on membership of the FFA Congress - the highest decision-making body in Australian soccer.
Lowy has proposed adding two more seats on the 10-person body for A-League clubs, and another for the Players Association.
The offer has been dismissed by clubs, hoping for extra representation.
There are also advocates for giving state league clubs and women's football a dedicated seat.
It remains to be seen whether Lowy - and the current Congress members, stacked by state federations - relent.
Lowy's decision to roll up his sleeves and involve himself in every meeting raises the stakes for the chairman.
On the upside, he cannot be accused of burying his head in the sand on the issue, a chief charge until a FIFA-imposed deadline sped up interest from head office.
On the downside, a failure to reach consensus would weaken his leadership.
Stakeholders aren't in any doubt about Lowy's position after he issued a 2,073-word missive on Saturday.
A focus on maintaining "balance" in any Congress expansion has been viewed as an unwillingness to admit too many A-League chiefs to the table.
On a secondary matter, cash flows to A-League clubs, Lowy railed against an over-commitment of funds away from national teams to A-League clubs.
One party described the letter as a "surprising" injunction from Lowy.
It remains to be seen whether the son of long-term chairman Frank Lowy has the capacity to surprise once more, and reach a consensus on the Congress.
Source: AAP
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