Foster hits back at ‘ridiculous’ blame game as stars sue national body
Exclusive: Craig Foster says Socceroos and Matildas stars are being used as scapegoats for Australian football’s problems, calling it “patently ridiculous” to blame the players.
Yet another round of in-fighting has gone public this week with news that Professional Footballers Australia are suing Football Australia as part of a multi-million dollar dispute.
The Matildas sing the national anthem. Getty
The PFA is seeking a seven-figure sum for its national team players, according to AAP, with the players union arguing that the governing body is not distributing a fair slice of revenue generated by commercial deals.
Premier League champion Robbie Slater teed off in a column for Code Sports.
“It is morally wrong, it’s a disgrace and has me feeling sick to my stomach,” the ex-Australia star said.
“The Matildas and Socceroos should be paid to play for their country and that’s it.”
Matildas great Lisa De Vanna was similarly scathing in a social media post, claiming that the current team was pampered and still not satisfied.
“Instead of knocking game when it’s at its lowest, maybe play for pride (and) not greed,” De Vanna wrote.
Foster, an ex-Socceroos captain, is a former PFA chair and now one of several trustees that help oversee the organisation.
The court action in the NSW Supreme Court therefore came as no surprise, nor did the attacks from Slater, De Vanna and others.
“What’s most disturbing, what the football community need to understand, is that we’ve had a period of growth in which the players have been the central participants,” Stan Sport expert Foster told nine.com.au.
“The Socceroos and Matildas have qualified for repeated World Cups, done extremely well in those World Cups, become the most loved brands in Australia.
“But for the game more broadly, we’ve entered a period where growth has not only stalled but in many respects is going backwards. That’s clearly not due to the players. And when growth reverses, often the game starts to attack each other.”
Australian football great Craig Foster. AP
Foster, 57, has seen this sad movie before.
Many times, in fact, including multiple scrapes with the then Soccer Australia during the 1990s as players fought hard to maximise their earning potential.
The Socceroos famously went on strike while on tour in Saudi Arabia in 1997, with Slater among the players who initially opposed the action.
Foster claimed that FA had improperly written off “tens of millions of dollars” to the Australian Professional Leagues, without due explanation to the football community.
“That money belongs to the participants, it doesn’t belong to the professional game, and there’s been scant explanation,” he argued.
“There’s been avoidance of accountability, and all of this has occurred through very poor management of the professional game in recent years. And the players are again going to be publicly blamed by certain sections.
“It’s predictable, but it’s very sad for me. In a period of mismanagement of the game, for people to now turn around and blame the players is patently ridiculous.
Players of Australia line up for the national anthem. Getty Images
“The players drive the growth of the game. The players aren’t responsible for the decisions that have left the APL in a position where even its solvency is being questioned.
“The players are not responsible for the commercial relationships of Football Australia, but what they have been doing is excelling on a level that Australia’s national teams have never seen, on a very consistent basis over the last 15 years. So they can do no more.”
The dispute comes ahead of Socceroos games against Qatar and Jordan in the Middle East this month.
The Matildas will meanwhile host Colombia for two matches in November.
Foster called for level heads amid the bitter atmosphere.
“The players are predictable scapegoats,” he said.
“We should all be concerned about these attacks on the players because it’s another signal that the game is in a really difficult and dangerous set of circumstances at the moment.
Craig Foster. Stan
“We’ve got very serious structural issues in the game that need to be dealt with, at a time when the players are doing their jobs beautifully. The players aren’t the issue. The players have done their job, and have been the central contributor to growing the value of the game by 140-fold in 20 years.
“It’s no good attacking each other.”
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