Political Football

There was a post on Facebook the other day where a little boy asked his dad if all fairy stories began with the words “once upon a time.” The father responded by saying, “no, sometimes they begin with when we are elected we promise…”

What is disgraceful about the broken promises made by politicians is that they are rarely held accountable for what are frequently nothing more than vote-catching lies.

Last week there were many people who reacted exactly the way the Prime Minister wanted when during a visit to Perth he announced that his Government if re-elected would stump up $16.25million to see Football West’s long term dream of new administrative offices realised.

The hope is clearly that the 230,000 participants of the game will all be so happy that such a pledge has been made, that they will vote for the Liberals. (It Doesn’t Add Up)

To be fair in March, a long time before Mr Morrison’s visit, Swan Labor candidate Hannah Beazley promised that Labor would contribute $10 million towards construction costs for the facility which is now being proposed to be built at Queen’s Park. The pledge had a proviso, if Labor wins this year’s Federal election. This has recently been boosted to $20million.

Two years ago former Premier Colin Barnett pledged $37m towards a $50m soccer centre in Ashfield, but his Liberal Government lost the State election and the plan fell over soon after.

What is astounding is even with inflation how the cost of this vision has blown out. In November 2012 when Football West first hatched this plan to build a State Football Centre it was reported in the papers that the cost would be $10-15 million. Just three months later they were saying it would cost $20million. Now six years on the figure has risen to around $50million!

It would be interesting to know how many man hours have been spent pursuing this dream, putting together proposals and the like over the past six years, as it seems that this dream has become an obsession, and has resulted in basic areas of football administration being neglected.

It has been stated that The State Football Centre “would serve as Football West’s administrative base and a world-class training facility for teams such as Perth Glory’s men’s and women’s sides.”

First and foremost one has to ask who will be the owner of the facility? Are Perth Glory to be joint owners or tenants? If they are to be part owners a risk is attached to that arrangement as the club is privately owned. So should the owner decide to sell the club where would that leave their share? The new owner may not want to be located in Queens Park and may prefer a training facility closer to the city.

Secondly Perth Glory owners have frequently bemoaned the cost of having to hire training and playing facilities, so if they were to be a tenant this could well be yet another additional cost, which will make it increasingly harder to see the club turn a profit.

Also did not the planned location in another council area fall over because the Perth Glory refused to open their books to the various partners?

We have frequently been told that this Centre will be for the football community, yet if NPL and State League teams as well as junior sides are forced to play there, as per the original documents presented, the chance for these clubs to make money via the bar and canteen will be greatly reduced. It was stated that the Centre would host an NPL match every Friday night and Sunday.

If this facility is truly about the game here in Western Australia the CEO’s comments during Mr Morrison’s visit need closer attention. James Curtis was quoted as saying that “This facility will also play a key role in our football development exchange within the Asian region and provide opportunities for the next generation of football stars within the region.”

Under Objects of the Company section 1.1 of the Football West Constitution it states in part b that the aim of the company is “to govern Football throughout the State and protect Football from abuse.” While part F states they are there “to promote, provide for, regulate and manage Football tournaments and games in the State.” Finally in section I it reads that they are to “provide and maintain grounds, playing fields, materials, equipment and other facilities for Football in the State.” There is no mention of developing the game in Asia.

It would appear that in order to obtain the funding Football West has had to show that they will attract clubs and tourism from our Asian neighbours who could visit and play local sides. This development exchange appears to be an incredibly one-sided affair. An exchange is an act of giving and receiving, what is football in Western Australia receiving from this exchange with countries whose football programs and competitions are ranked lower than Australia’s?

When Australia was accepted into the Asian Football Confederation one of the conditions was that it would help the under-developed nations in Asia. So let’s not think that this is an altruistic move.

This writer has long been against such a Centralised proposal as it appears to be short-sighted. As stated previously, and especially if Western Australia is hoping to be a host city should Australia win hosting rights for the FIFA Women’s World cup, upgrading existing facilities across the metropolitan area would appear to be a far better long term investment. (Going Down a Seperate Path and Upgrade Grounds or Home of Football)

With one centralised location teams based in Perth for the World cup would be forced to book training times at the new centre, as they would never want to train at the same time. Those times may not suit the coach. By upgrading the existing facilities you would give them a ground and a base at which to work. You would also be taking the teams to various locations within the city rather than keeping them in one place, which ultimately has far greater benefits.

By upgrading the exisiting grounds a caveat could be put on the financial investment that the ground is made available to local schools to play there at no cost. So these once community clubs are once again re-intergrated into the communities in which they are located.

As for the Administrative offices, why are the powers that be so hung up on having the Government pay for new offices? The game missed out when it left Perry Lakes before the re-development started, something that benefitted Basketball, Netball and Rugby who were all evicted. Football West purchased its current offices, so if it had the funds to do that why should the Government pay for new offices?

In fact in his parting statement outgoing Chairman Liam Twigger stated to The West Australian that “Annual revenue has trebled to about $9 million, participation is at record levels and the board, is the equal of any in WA sports administration.” Questions could be raised on this statement, but if the game is in such a healthy position, why is there such a focus on new offices?

In the same article it was written that “Mr Twigger says that while other sports were financially supported into new modern facilities, soccer had been sidelined as an “orphan”.”

In Football West’s own release he was quoted as saying that “We are the only major sport in WA not to have a training and administration centre. We have not received the parcels of land or the settlement packages of other sports. We have been promised, we have done the business cases and we have met the moving goalposts.” The reason the other sports received those settlements was because they were evicted from their offices along with the Department of Sport and recreation. Who would offer such a package to someone who had already moved out?

In fact in the same piece on Football West’s website Mr Twigger was quoted as saying “Our clubs and players deserve suitable and accessible facility standards that support the growth and ensure future generations don’t miss out, particularly female footballers.” Then surely if this statement is true the game would be better served improving the current facilities throughout the metro and country areas rather than in one location?

The sad fact is the world economy is not strong, and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. So despite the promises being made by both parties such a project is likely to be shelved by both political parties when more pressing issues arise. Even if they do deliver on their promises where is the rest of the money required going to come from?

Have the leaders of our game allowed politicians to use the game as pawn in their election campaigns to win votes? What links to both parties do any of the Board Members or senior staff have, and should these have been declared? Will the money actually come through?

Time will tell, but it pays never to forget that truth is rarely a politician’s objective, being elected is, and obtaining the power that follows. There will be many who will say sport and Politics do not mix, but in the modern era they are irrevocably entwined, especially in Australia, where so many sports are reliant on various Government departments for funding. So one could say that the Government have paid for the right to use the sport in order to win votes.