'It’s about leadership not dictatorship', says former A-League boss

As FIFA prepare to endorse a raft of reforms surrounding Australia’s football governance, and FFA chairman Steven Lowy lingers in the departure lounge, former A-League boss Archie Fraser says now is the time for re-construction not retribution.

FIFA will officially ratify the recommendations of their Congress Review Working Group in Zurich on Tuesday, with an independent A-League a key finding along with a Congress expanded from 10 to 29 members.

Four renegade state federations may still be prepared to side with FFA and veto the changes at an extraordinary general meeting next month, potentially provoking FIFA into suspending Australia from world football.

But Fraser is looking beyond the rancor and antagonism of what he describes “as the wasted years” to a post-Lowy era where the cult of personality gives way to cooperation and consensus amongst football’s disperse stakeholders.

With Lowy announcing he will not seek re-election in November, Fraser - whose tenure ran from 2009-2011 - told The World Game: “You need leadership but they have to be accountable and the strategy plan needs to be signed off by the board and the Congress.

“One thing that’s been highlighted by all this is that we don’t need a dictator to run football. 

“It’s about collaborative leadership not dictatorship. There’s so much good debate happening now and that’s what Congress is all about.

“A future board should be strong enough to challenge the chairman, just like it is in any public company.

“Moving forward, I think we need a sensible debate without necessarily bashing Steven Lowy.

“It’s not about a witch-hunt, it’s more about fixing football. We’ve lost some time. Now it should be about sensible discussions over the future of football.”

Fraser visualises what could conceivably be a golden age for the code as it seeks to put two years of destructive in-fighting behind it.

“We want to just grow the A-League and, when the time is right, bring in promotion and relegation, grow live content, get money into the game and attract committed, capable people who want to develop the game.

“Let’s make up for the stagnation of the last few years.

“The last thing we need is another global search for a CEO and end up getting somebody from another code who doesn’t understand the game.”

He views making up ground on other codes as imperative in the healing phase which he hopes will replace the destructive saga which has sucked the life out of the game.

“They’ve taken massive leaps and bounds ahead of us, including the likes of the Big Bash and a whole bunch of other stuff,” he added.

“What we need to do now is unite football people.

“They know what to do, they don’t need somebody from another code coming in to tell them. We don’t want to allow one person now to get control of the game.

“We need custodians of the game who make good decisions and explain why they’ve made them. There’s a good groundswell here.”

But while Lowy remains at the tiller - to many, an enduring figure of divisiveness - Fraser sees further possible fractures.

“There have been so many tactics at play throughout his reign, and even with his impending resignation I feel there’s a lot of water to flow under the bridge yet before things are resolved,” he cautioned.

“There haven’t been many steps in this journey which FFA hasn’t thought through and choreographed for a reason.

“Steven Lowy is still chairman till November and much can still happen."

Asked whether he might put his hand up to return to the game in some guise, Fraser replied: “I’ve never put my hand down. The good thing is there are a lot more people out there with well thought through contributions to make.”