Update: The meeting has finished and FFA’s new chair is.... Chris Nikou!
Still no movement in Sydney – and that’s where we’ll call it a day for this blog. But do be sure to check back on our report later on in case something does come out of that meeting with the new directors.
It’s still unclear whether a new chairman will be elected today, with no confirmation the meeting currently taking place behind closed doors between the new directors will produce an actual result.
Meanwhile, as a metaphor for football in this country, can you look further than this?
Um, so part of the roof just collapsed after the FFA AGM 🙄 pic.twitter.com/FnEE1sNTwt
— Carly Adno (@CarlyAdno226) November 19, 2018
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Summary
So, to recap - the four new directors of the FFA board are, in elected order, Heather Reid, Joseph Carrozzi, Chris Nikou and Remo Nogarotto.
They will now withdraw to confer over who (from among their number) will be appointed as FFA chair, just the third in the A-League’s 14-year history. Carrozzi and Nikou are the two interested in the role.
There are strong grounds for support, and reservation with both candidates – especially Nikou, and especially after a long campaign which started amid hopes of reform and/or widespread change with the candidacy of both sports rights “outsider” Judith Griggs, and former Socceroo and high-profile media commentator, Craig Foster.
In Nikou, a previous member of the FFA board – and therefore a signatory in opposition to the proposed congress changes recommended by the Congress Review Working Group report, and demanded by Fifa following a three-year impasse in the governance of the game, there is likely to be some resistance from the game’s rank and file. Similarly, former AFL club board-member Carozzi has been dogged by insinuations throughout the election process surrounding his pedigree as a true-believer.
Still, that’s for perhaps another day. For now the project of unity in Australian football begins in earnest, with the A-League clubs (and member federations) now handed the chalice, received by Steven Lowy from his father, Frank.
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Steven Lowy opens the floor for the newly elected board members to speak.
Heather Reid thanks her team, and admits she’s humbled. Joseph Carrozzi calls for unity (drink!). Chris Nikou, with “unity” taken goes for an analogy of “all getting in the same boat and rowing together”.
Finally, Nogarotto calls for unity, and thanks Conroy for graciously standing down.
Meanwhile, SLowy’s taken the opportunity for a cheeky post-vote speech.
He tells of the story of Kevin Rudd sending Barack Obama a hand-written note, congratulating but warning of the dangers of facing “Infinite expectations, finite resources”.
He offers this message to the new board.
“We have to finish with a bit of laughter.” Yeah, tha boi.
Kimon Taliadores offers a vote of thanks to Steven, and Frank Lowy, on behalf of the member federations.
And, ladies and gentlemen - the fifteenth annual general meeting of FFA is officially closed.
Conroy withdraws - Remo Nogarotto is elected as fourth FFA director
So, it’s back to the future!
Conroy charitably withdraws to prevent another vote; a show of hands is offered instead of a formal vote.
In the spirit of unity, harmony, and one-voice (TM) Nogarotto receives unanimous support from the floor, with no opposition.
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Steven Lowy is now calling the meeting back to order..
if you thought the opening speech from the outgoing chair was a bizarre version of Samuel Beckett-style torture, we now have the very real prospect of going through the motion of another vote (cue: 15-30 minutes of awkward shambling) ... with potentially the same outcome.
Unless a block shifts behind one or the other candidate, we will be forced to endure this process, again, and again, ad infinitum.
So - what does this mean for the two candidates?
Of the two, Conroy is likely to join the board as an appointed director; but would Remo receive similar support?
No result from the second round!
Okay, this can only be seen as a strong no-confidence vote - nobody has received a vote of 60%!
Nogarotto 53.11%
Conroy 46.89%
All four remaining other candidates received 0% of the vote.
I’m not a constitutional expert, but according to the regs of the lowest vote-receiver being sequentially eliminated, when four get 0% - we officially have a draw from the hat, to see who will be eliminated!
Remarkable scenes.
Norquay, Shield and Bailes have now officially withdrawn - Moulis is eliminated as the last remaining candidate.
And, we’ve now got a delay as we wait - I kid you not - for more ballot papers to be printed.
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Okay, there’s movement back to seats - this could be the announcement of the final elected director.
Stand by...
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And we await the outcome of the second round of voting.
And while there’s been a lot of negatively surrounding some of the machinations leading into this election, for Heather Reid - a veteran adminstrator and almost one-woman band for the promotion of the women’s game for over four decades, being voted first onto the board at least has been a nice moment of public acknowledgment.
Wow, I'm overwhelmed with the level of support. Sleeves rolled up and ready for hard work ahead. Thank you, thank you.#FFAVotes
— Heather Reid AM (@Reidyfour) November 19, 2018
And kudos to the FFA for a level of transparency that has allowed this historic vote to be broadcast, as well as the interim votes to be reckoned.
Greater minds than mine will be able to give you the context behind some of the voting blocs and factions, once the numbers below have been thoroughly examined.
And for anyone wondering why we have votes to two decimal places, you’ll remember that under the agreement reached following the Congress Review Working Group member federations received 55 votes (divided equally between nine federations; ie 6.11 each) and the A-League clubs received 28 votes (divided equally between nine clubs, with Wellington Phoenix excluded; ie 3.11 each).
As suspected, the two most-likely candidates to become the next chair of the FFA, Joseph Carrozzi and Chris Nikou, have automatically been elected, securing 60% of the vote.
Veteran women’s administrator, Heather Reid, was the overwhelming lead vote receiver - you’ll remember she was publicly supported by the PFA, and with the withdrawal of Craig Foster, appears to have received near unilateral support.
The fourth spot now becomes fascinating - it’s presumably a shoot out between former Soccer Australia CEO Nogarotto and former politician Stephen Conroy.
But it is telling that pre-agreement was not reached; indicating the heads of the various interest groups perhaps didn’t get all the numbers right. But was it a late swing away from Nogarotto, or Conroy?
Three nominee directors automatically - Reid, Carrozzi, Nikou elected
And then there was just one more spot!
So after the first round of voting, here are the results:
Heather Reid 90.78 votes - elected
Joseph Carrozzi 75.56 - elected
Chris Nikou 68.44 - elected
Stephen Conroy 43.78
Remo Nogarotto 42.89
Morry Bailes 25.44
Linda Norquay 19.56
Danny Moulis 12.22
Mark Shield 0
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So a reminder of the scuttlebut from the chattering classes in the Australian football media.
The dream-team duo of Ray Gatt and John Stensholt over at The Australian (Gatt-holt? Sten-gatt?) have tipped it as being highly probably that Carrozzi, Nikou, Conroy and Nogarotto will make the board.
There has been some late talk of a potential division among A-League clubs over the candidacy of Conroy.
Don’t forget, there will be three appointed directors added late, so perhaps Conroy and Norquay could be highly favoured to be added then (if not elected outright).
There is of course also a new 40-40-20 gender proscription (ie 40% men, 40% women, 20% either men or women) in place for the board - a factor that has seen Norquay and Reid’s chances of joining Rosmarin on the board increase notably.
Voting for four new FFA board directors has concluded - we await the first round counting and scrutineering
So. Will it be done in one; or will we shift to the protracted vote (with sequential elimination of lowest-polling candidates etc)?
Australian Associated Press’ chief football writer Ben McKay is jumping on #GWSGate - look forward to this being syndicated across every major media outlet shortly.
[puts tinfoil hat on and prepares to smash the keyboard] #FFAVotes Stitch up! https://t.co/eXDTQrfWK1
— Ben McKay (@benmackey) November 19, 2018
Meanwhile, for fans of livestreams showing a bunch of people standing around and chewing the fat while they await a vote, can I highly recommend tuning in now?
Lawrie McKinna’s taken a phonecall. WHAT CAN IT MEAN? Heather Reid’s chatting with John Didiluca. Ooh, and there’s a handshake in passing between Kimon Taliadores and Steven Lowy.
Anthony Di Pietro’s on the edge of shot - stay tuned to find out who he’s talking to, shortly.
(Update: it’s Luke Casserly!)
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So.
For voting context.
There was an attempt several weeks ago to “pre-ordain” a preferred set of four directors that would get consensus support from the three major stakeholders (the member federations, the A-League clubs, the PFA).
This is reported to have come undone when Judith Griggs (the alleged incumbent chair) withdrew from the process.
It has been the unconfirmed suspicion of many, that a second quadrumvirate has however been successfully formed.
An interesting detail here, from Sydney Morning Herald’s Vince Rugari:
Joseph Carrozzi has already resigned from the GWS Giants board. That's interesting. https://t.co/uNmFKjfdAS #FFAvotes
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) November 19, 2018
You’ll remember from the candidates’ community forum hosted by the AAFC last Monday that if elected to the FFA Board, Joseph Carrozzi confirmed that he would resign from the board of AFL club, the GWS Giants due to concerns over a potential conflict of interest.
If this is true, you have to admire his confidence.
Item six: the election of four new directors to the FFA board
Okay, finally to the big one!
At least we’ve had a dry run for how the voting will go - remember, this is a secret vote - so the 100 votes will be cast individually, they will then be tallied, and announced back to the floor.
Each director needs 60% of the vote to be automatically elected (unless more than four receive that tally). It’s not ranked 1-4, simply four names need to be selected.
Meanwhile the spirit of unity and togetherness for the next chapter of Australian football continues:
Congratulations to all involved in securing the next stage status for AAFC within the FFA Congress. We note that Northern NSW, NT, the ACT and Queensland did not support the motion.
— AAFC (@AAFClubs) November 19, 2018
While we wait, here’s an interesting poll result from over 2,300 football fans about who their preferred FFA board directors would be.
The People’s Choice?
Craig Foster: 90%, Remo Nogarotto: 61%, Heather Reid: 53%, Mark Shield: 45%.
In contrast, the leading contenders for the roll of chair? Joseph Carrozzi: 28%, Stephen Conroy 28%, Chris Nikou 15%.
Watch this space.
With a formal poll now taking place, the key point of business - the election of four new FFA directors will unfortunately be delayed.
The 29 voting members will receive their individual ballot papers, and are being roll-called high school gym style.
I might take this opportunity to phone a friend a find out a little bit more about what’s in contention here; I have a sneaky feeling it’s about the AAFC’s entry into future congresses with a potentially 2-vote stake?
If you’re playing at home, please feel free to whip through the CRWG report and confirm the exact mechanism governing this for us all.
Actual football journalist Tom Smithies from the Daily Telegraph has the latest:
@AAFClubs bid to have their pathway to becoming full members of FFA backdated to July last year failed on show of hands, but now has gone to secret ballot #FFAVotes
— Tom Smithies (@SmithiesTele) November 19, 2018
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That motion has been carried as well. Congratulations item 5.
This next resolution could get quite exciting, it will require a 75% vote to pass.
I believe it has something to do with the AAFC (the umbrella organisation that represents the non-professional game) and their pathway towards representation under the new CRWG reforms.
A reminder - the vote that the room is packed with journalists to witness - is still to come. We are working our way through some of the off-Broadway votes.
There’s a clarification from the floor, with the AAFC motion having reportedly not been carried. This has been contested by a gentleman, with hair.
They’ve called for a poll! And scrutineers!
I actually imagine this has been quite an important ballot.
There is a vote, on a resolution. People are raising pink, green, and white cards respectively.
In fairness, I actually have no idea what this is about. Or the overall significance of it. I may have been lulled away somewhere in the last few minutes.
The motion has been carried by over 60 votes to 24.
We move now to six formal aspects of AGM business.
As many have noted, the timing of the release, yesterday, of the Annual Review, including some significant financial detailing was perhaps elucidating.
View the full @FFA 2018 Annual Review here: https://t.co/Y1eWGWEoyo pic.twitter.com/8k4O6SaoRz
— Football Australia (@FFA) November 18, 2018
Lowy invites questions from the floor over aspects of the Annual Review. None are forthcoming.
“I know you all want to get to the vote, but this is important.”
This is actually brilliant. In all fairness, if I was him I’d make this go for the full five days; no rain delays, no surrender.
SLowy is now individually naming the senior management team of FFA.
This has been a topic of significant speculation in previous days - in particular, whether a new board would look to significantly shake up the senior management of the governing body (despite CEO David Gallop very recently having his contract extended by Lowy jnr).
Steven is now thanking the Australian fans, in a speech that’s increasingly feeling like the performance-art equivalent of a cat slowly sliding claws-out across a large blackboard, while being dragged away in a net.
Wowee. SLowy is going out swinging.
“New board members must respect that the game is owned by the FFA”.
Did I hear/transcribe that correctly?
Is this a jab at the shift of power towards the A-League clubs, amid rumours of a draft proposal document being already circulated that could see the governing body cut out of significant revenue shares, at the expense of money flowing directly to member federations?
Lowy also outlines the challenge facing the new board, of: “... maximising the potentiality of the A-League without cannibalising the national team and grassroots”. It’s been a significant concern that Lowy has flagged previously.
He’s also defended the “suits” on the old FFA board, saying public outcry for more “football people” on the board as a “nonsense argument”, defending the commercial nous of the team he’s put together/overseen.
Meanwhile, by popular demand Steven Lowy is giving a closing address.
Like George W. Bush, will we perhaps never truly come to appreciate his oratory until somebody else is in the big chair?
He’s outlining the major achievements of his board (broadcast revenue, promotion of the women’s game etc).
And he’s offering a word of caution to the incoming board, and the myriad of challenges that face them (promotion and relegation, the allocation of finite resource, A-League expansion etc).
Get out your black textas, we’ve lost another one -
Mark Rendell has reportedly withdrawn from today’s election. You might remember him as the only candidate to have not spoken on the public record ahead of the vote, with many suspecting he’s effectively been running dead. Will this see votes flow to Morry Bailes, Mark Shields or any of the other less-fancied / outsider candidates?
Bailes, alongside Danny Moulis, are the only remaining candidates not presently in the room at FFA HQ on 1 Oxford st. Read into that what you will.
Ros Moriarty elected Women's Football Council independent chair
It was some news that has trickled out already over the past 24 hours or so (don’t be surprised if that keeps happening today).
Ros, alongside her husband John, has been a longstanding ally of football, especially through their work with the John Moriarty Foundation for Indigenous football.
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And as suspected - outgoing chair (as in leaving, not a reference to his level of charisma) Steven Lowy may address today’s gathering.
Not sure about any of you out there, but I’m not seeing a flowing livestream yet - we’ll keep you updated with our various eyes and ears inside the room, which incidentally, looks like this:
👀 #ffavotes pic.twitter.com/D5h9Z5w4dg
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) November 19, 2018
There once were eleven candidates - now there are nine. The FFA V2.0 fellowship of the rings will be wrought from:
[Candidate; Nominator; Seconder]
Morry Bailes (South Australia, Victoria)
Joseph Carrozzi (Melbourne Victory, WS Wanderers)
Stephen Conroy (ACT, Melbourne Victory)
Craig Foster (PFA, Women’s Council)
Judith Griggs (South Australia, Melbourne City)
Daniel Moulis (ACT, Tasmania)
Chris Nikou (Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City)
Remo Nogarotto (NNSW, Melbourne City)
Linda Norquay (ACT, Melbourne City)
Heather Reid (PFA, ACT)
Mark Rendell (Tasmania, ACT)
Mark Shields (Tasmania, ACT)
Note: There are two existing FFA Board members - Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and Crispin Murray who have stayed on from the previous board. Their terms are not up for re-election until next year.
Fun fact: Once the four new directors are elected a subsequent three more directors can be appointed by the new board - the idea being to complement the existing team. It’s a great get out of jail card if you have somebody, hypothetically, without popular support or well-documented passion for the game etc, but very important political/corporate connections. Appointed directors however are not allowed to stand as candidates for the position of chair.
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And speaking of the women’s football council - this newly instituted body with a total of 10 members with a single vote each (with three positions appointed from the three key stakeholders - the member federations, the A-League clubs and the PFA, and one independent chair) will be our first point of business.
At 2pm (AEDT), the 15th annual general meeting of FFA will first confirm the independent chair of the women’s football council.
Then at 2.15pm the vote will be conducted for the election of the four directors of the board.
After a quick consultation of section 15 of the freshly minted FFA constitution (revised entirely after the recent Congress Review Working Group report) you’ll all no doubt be intimately familiar with the incredibly complicated mechanism of how the actual vote – a secret ballot, away from your prying livestream and in-house journalist eyes – will be conducted.
But the good news is, with the major interest groups having spent most of the past week horse-trading, there’s a pretty good chance we won’t have to worry about a sequential elimination of candidates and a recasting of votes – if four candidates receive 60% of the vote, they will be automatically elected.
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Hi all, to you and yours, thee and thine, from wherever you’re following this live coverage, on what is undoubtedly one of the more important days in Australian football’s recent history.
As alluded to in the preamble, the big ticket item today will be the election of four new directors for the FFA board, the governing body for football in Australia (and small pockets of Wellington, NZ) – and shortly thereafter (inshallah), the announcement of a new chair of the FFA.
It’s the first election conducted by the voters of a new expanded congress – you might recall, for the past 13 years there were only 10 votes within the original congress - one each for the nine member federations, and one (in total) for the A-League clubs.
With some estimates suggesting club owners had invested/lost anywhere between $100-150m into the game’s major revenue generator, the A-League, over the first decade or so, you can imagine why there’s been some agitation behind the scenes for greater representation for those that consider themselves the bankrollers of the professional game.
Under the new expanded congress – a requirement demanded by Fifa, and steered by the aforementioned Judith Griggs – there are now 100 votes.
Effective 58 for the member federations, 31 for the A-League clubs, 10 for Professional Footballers Australia, and one for the independent chair of the women’s football council.
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Preamble
If, as the saying goes, politics is show biz for ugly people, what then is Australian football politics?
I guess we’ll find out today.
Despite an at times chaotic few weeks during the lead up – in which firstly the presumed incumbent and well-respected chair of the Congress Review Working Group report, Judith Griggs, and the popular choice, Craig Foster both withdrew from selection - 29 men and women will come together in a show of harmony and unity to usher in the new leaders of the Australian game.
Or at the very least, they’ll nominate four directors of the FFA board, and ultimately, a new chair to succeed Frank and Steven Lowy.
It’s a pivotal moment in the game’s history in Australia. After a nearly three-year impasse, the A-League clubs, led by Melbourne City’s influential deputy chairman, Simon Pearce, now have the opportunity to show whether they can bring football’s various, and at times fractious, interest groups together.
On the immediate horizon loom massive decisions. Decisions to be made about A-League expansion (and more specifically, where). Decisions to be made about the A-League’s independence (and more specifically, the revenue share between the clubs, member federations et al). Decisions to be made about the senior executive of the current FFA team - will there be a fresh broom of regime change at 1 Oxford st, and to the victors the spoils?
We’ll find out a little bit more as to what the future holds, very shortly.
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