Football Federation Australia chairman Steven Lowy will not rule out taking FIFA to court in the event the governing body of world football disbands the FFA board and takes control of the Australian game.
The game is braced for intervention from FIFA, which will decide on the fate of the sport after the FFA's proposal for a new expanded congress failed to be approved at the annual general meeting on Thursday, the final deadline for reforms to pass.
After first receiving notice from former FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke nearly 2 years ago that FFA had to expand its congress to become more democratic, inclusive and representative, Thursday's defeat at the AGM quashed any hope of FFA doing so on their own terms.
Lowy failed to gain the required support for a restructure of FFA's membership after three of the game's biggest stakeholders voted against his board's proposal.
The A-League clubs, Football NSW and Football Federation Victoria rejected the congress model, ensuring the state of Australian football will be determined by FIFA next week, which has already written to the FFA and suggested they will replace the board with a "normalisation committee" and temporarily govern Australian football.
That process will begin on Tuesday with FIFA's Member Associations Committee. In a letter on July 5, FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura warned the FFA they would take over if the final deadline was not met.
"The committee decided that if the FFA membership is not expanded based on the above parameters by 30 November 2017, it would recommend the establishment of a normalisation committee to the FIFA Council," Samoura said.
Lowy was set to write to FIFA on Thursday evening informing them of the decision taken by the the organisation's members. He says he will urge Zurich to pursue other alternatives to resolve the bitter impasse in Australian football but says he will not rule out taking legal action against a potential removal at the hands of FIFA.
"Our board would have to discuss that at the time, I don't need to make that decision now," Lowy said. "We have an understanding of our legal position, yes. But whether we would choose to enact that position depends on the circumstances. We are a duly elected, independent board, recognised by FIFA. We are the governing body in Australia."
The FFA chairman launched a stinging attack on those he suggested have put Australia on the path to uncertainty, taking aim particularly at the A-League clubs he suggests are seeking "money and control". The FFA board required eight votes from the 10 members on the congress to pass his proposal for an expanded membership tier as per Australian corporations law. However, he received only seven.
It appears Lowy has lost the support of the two biggest state member federations - representing the majority of registered participants and the professional game - the latter having already called for Lowy to consider stepping down.
Adelaide United chairman Greg Griffin was in attendance at the meeting on behalf of the clubs and issued a vote of no confidence in Lowy. "Steven Lowy has lost the locker room," Griffin said. "The professional game voted against it, the two major states voted against it. I think it has to go to FIFA. It's regrettable, but that's what it is," Griffin said. "I would have thought, once you lose the locker room, it's very difficult to get it back.
