Auxodium
21 Jun 2003, 06:33 AM
An historic partnership between club bosses and the players' union has been unveiled with the goal of building an Australian soccer super league.
NSL clubs and the Professional Footballers Association have buried years of antagonism, opting for the common good instead, by forming the National Premier League Commission.
Its task is to have a new Australia-wide competition up and running no later than the World Cup year of 2006.
The breakthrough comes in the midst of soccer's winter of discontent, like a bolt of enlightenment has struck professional club football.
13 NSL clubs and the PFA have taken a great leap of faith -- giving birth to a new independent body, the National Premier League Commission.
'It's a momentous decision by the NSL clubs, they're unanimously supported a paper that takes a bi-partisan approach to reform," said NSL chairman Remo Nogarotto.
The PFA is equally happy.
"This means a key decision will be made by an independent commission, " said PFA chief executive Brendan Schwab. "That's consistent with the Crawford process, it's what the PFA wants and it's what's best for the game."
The six-member commission, to be made up of corporate sport, legal and marketing experts, is yet to be appointed.
Its job will be to determine the best commercial model for a new league.
Its terms of reference draw heavily on the PFA's Australian Premier League plan, launched in April, but equally incorporate principles set down by the NSL's own reform steering committee.
The commission has a deadline of 2006, but that may be too far away for some existing clubs.
Adelaide City will decide in a week whether to stay in the NSL, while the Olympic Sharks also have an uncertain future -- the club's wealthy owners either pulling out or scaling back investment.
Olympic members will meet on Sunday to decide the next step, amid fears this season's $3 million dollar budget will have to be cut by 60 per cent if the club is to survive.
thanks to SBS' http://www.theworldgame.com.au
NSL clubs and the Professional Footballers Association have buried years of antagonism, opting for the common good instead, by forming the National Premier League Commission.
Its task is to have a new Australia-wide competition up and running no later than the World Cup year of 2006.
The breakthrough comes in the midst of soccer's winter of discontent, like a bolt of enlightenment has struck professional club football.
13 NSL clubs and the PFA have taken a great leap of faith -- giving birth to a new independent body, the National Premier League Commission.
'It's a momentous decision by the NSL clubs, they're unanimously supported a paper that takes a bi-partisan approach to reform," said NSL chairman Remo Nogarotto.
The PFA is equally happy.
"This means a key decision will be made by an independent commission, " said PFA chief executive Brendan Schwab. "That's consistent with the Crawford process, it's what the PFA wants and it's what's best for the game."
The six-member commission, to be made up of corporate sport, legal and marketing experts, is yet to be appointed.
Its job will be to determine the best commercial model for a new league.
Its terms of reference draw heavily on the PFA's Australian Premier League plan, launched in April, but equally incorporate principles set down by the NSL's own reform steering committee.
The commission has a deadline of 2006, but that may be too far away for some existing clubs.
Adelaide City will decide in a week whether to stay in the NSL, while the Olympic Sharks also have an uncertain future -- the club's wealthy owners either pulling out or scaling back investment.
Olympic members will meet on Sunday to decide the next step, amid fears this season's $3 million dollar budget will have to be cut by 60 per cent if the club is to survive.
thanks to SBS' http://www.theworldgame.com.au