Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop has stated he believes A-League teams are not clubs in the traditional sense, and are more inclined to act in the interest of their shareholders and not Australian football.
Gallop made the comments in a letter to FIFA last week, who were in Sydney to pressure the FFA into governance reform.
FIFA insiders are believed to have major concerns with the democratic process in Australian football, and have the belief that the FFA has frozen out stakeholders such as clubs, referees and players from the running of the game.
Gallop and the FFA tried to postpone the meeting after thinking it would impact television rights negotiations, although Gallop was unsuccessful in that attempt.
"The importance of getting this negotiation process right and ensuring we secure the best deal for the sport cannot be overstatedโฆ The environment in which we conduct our broadcast marketing and negotiations needs to be optimal,โ Gallop said in his letter to FIFA.
"What is also critical to appreciate about our governance model is that the A-League clubs in Australia are not โclubs' in the more traditional European or South American sense. They are all privately owned โฆ and as such are โfor-profit' entities whose objective โฆ is to act in the interests of their shareholders (and in doing so build the sales value of their asset) and not act in the interests of the game of football in Australia as a whole."
The back and forth between FIFA and the FFA have been going on since their annual general meeting in November after FIFA tried to pressure the FFA into making changes.
