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Despite Growing Pains, Australia’s A-League Here To Stay, Football Chief Says
October 08, 2010

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Australia’s A-League was here to stay despite financial problems troubling some of the clubs, national football chief Frank Lowy said on Thursday.

The 11-team A-League has had a challenging sixth season with one club, Newcastle Jets, saved recently at the 11th hour from going under just weeks into the new season, and the future of another team, the loss-making North Queensland Fury, to be resolved.

“I want to make it unequivocally clear that the A-League is here to stay, will succeed and will achieve its objectives,” Lowy told a gathering at the game’s major awards night in Sydney.

The Football Federation Australia chairman said a strong national league was not only the game’s showcase but was a “critical link” between junior footballers and the Socceroos.

“The A-League is still a very young league and like other establishment leagues around the world, including the American, Japanese and Korean leagues, some growing pains are to be expected,” he said.

“But it has proved itself already to be very resilient and this season the competition is being critically acclaimed as the best ever.

“We recognize the challenges and are working closely with the A-League clubs to meet those challenges,” Lowy said.

Later on Thursday, FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said the A-League’s competition format, a new FFA Cup and club financial sustainability are among options to be explored in a strategic review.

Buckley said the discussion points arose in consultation with the 11 clubs as a means to addressing ongoing challenges and opportunities for the fledgling competition.

“We’re only five years into building this competition into a strong domestic league,” Buckley said.

“We need to take stock of what has worked and what has not worked and if we need to a make changes to the model we should.”

He also said the FFA plans to spend 47 percent of its revenue on the A-League in this financial year, up on the 40 percent figure of the previous year. 


Agence France-Presse