Anti-reform rebels snub FIFA peace talks in latest saga of FFA governance crisis

FIFA have stepped up their bid to bridge Australian football’s great governance impasse by staging a teleconference with the state member federations - with the notable exception of anti-reform rebels ACT.

Capital Football, chaired by ex-lawyer Mark O’Neill, were the only one of the nine federations absent from the hook-up on Thursday.

The teleconference was aimed at delivering consensus ahead of this month's FFA extraordinary general meeting to ratify or reject the reform package presented by the FIFA-endorsed Congress Review Working Group (CRWG).

Failure to do so would leave FIFA with little option but to suspend Australia from world football, or install a normalisation committee to administer the sport.

Pro-reformists are hoping to draft a pre-EGM agenda agreed to by enough states to effectively to guarantee a ‘yes’ vote to the bulk of the Congress model proposed by the CRWG.

Capital Football has stood toe-to-toe with outgoing FFA chairman Steven Lowy in his quest to sabotage the reforms, which include a 29-strong congress and an independent A-League.

But Capital Football’s no-show in the latest round of talks with the world governing body came as a surprise, even to those close to the action.

O’Neill is the spokesman for a rump of four state federations - Capital Football, Northern NSW, Tasmania and Northern Territory - who are threatening to vote down the CRWG recommendations.

If any three of them vote as a block at the EGM - which must be held by September 28 - then FIFA will have to take matters into their own hands by triggering what has been described as the “nuclear option”.

O’Neill’s close alignment with Lowy and reluctance to fall into step with the majority of stakeholders has caused disquiet on his own board and earlier this week led to calls for him to resign by a spokesman for the ACT’s nine NPL clubs.

It’s understood that the tide of opposition to his stance in the ACT may soon come to a head, with the clubs claiming he is acting unilaterally and without the support of Canberra’s wider football fraternity.

Together the rebel group account for just 18 per cent of registered players, and the ACT just three per cent.

FIFA is keen to head off drastic action, hence the meeting, which one source privy to discussions said was “held in a very positive spirit, though Capital Football’s absence was duly noted”.

“It was about FIFA reaching out, which they had indicated they would do, to discuss what the outstanding issues are, and it’s disappointing that Capital Football didn’t show up,” the source added.

The nine state federations - who hold 90 per cent of the voting power on the current Congress model - were given seven days notice of the meeting by FIFA

O’Neill was approached for comment by The World Game but declined to respond.