And Then Insanity Broke Out

You have to be careful not to turn your back for too long in Australian soccer because you never know just what might happen when you aren't looking.

Yesterday afternoon the news broke that the FFA had revoked Clive Palmer's licence for Gold Coast United.  I was just about to head off for a few cooling ales which turned into a decent sized session at a quiz night.  As a result I didn't get a chance to post about this news and was planning to do so tonight.  I knew some sort of totally stupid response would come from Clive Palmer and this afternoon we saw it and the magnitude of it was astounding.  It was always a given that legal proceedings would begin and apparently that is the case, but when Palmer held a press conference this afternoon he announced that he intended to... well he announced something, its just that nobody seems sure what it was.

Apparently the press release that came out just prior to the press conference stated that Palmer was setting up Football Australia as a rival governing body to the FFA.  But somewhere along the way in the press conference that charter changed to being a lobby group for football against FFA.  So at the end of the day your guess is as good as mine as to what the fuck Football Australia is.

What we do know is that he has installed Archie 'chip on my shoulder because the FFA sacked me for being crap' Fraser as the CEO.

The FFA responded this evening with Ben Buckley effectively refusing to dignify the announcement of Football Australia with a response due to the total stupidity of the concept.  The FFA will focus however on the getting the remaining Gold Coast fixtures played out and ensuring the players wages are covered.  Though Palmer has stated that he will honour all contracts but given what he has done in the past, i.e. Peter Perchtold and Robson, I would be taking that with a grain of salt.

So things have taken a decidedly bizarre twist now.  I've got no doubt that there will be support for Palmer, you only have to look at Pauline Hanson to see that any nutter can attract at least some support.  What is key here is for the FFA to move forward with a clear direction focussing on a number of key things.

1. Getting this season finished with Gold Coast games played out properly so that the integrity of the competition is not compromised.
2. Players at Gold Coast are not only paid their wages but any undergoing treatment for injuries are also looked after by the FFA.
3. Using the remaining Gold Coast home games as a test bed to gauge support for continuation of A-League football there.
4. Exhaust all avenues to ensure a ten team league next season be that with a team on the Gold Coast or one in a new location such as Western Sydney.
5. If there will be no team on the Gold Coast then a legacy must be left there.  My suggestion would be the FFA working with the local community to keep a team in the National Youth League.  This is something they should have done with North Queensland as well and is probably something they should pursue now as a retrospective action.
6. A post season agenda of rework to the A-League's operational model to ensure the club's concerns are addressed as much as possible.

For now it seems that all bets are off as to what the next step will be.  Palmer is a loose cannon and I would say anything is possible now.