midfielder
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http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/frank-the-bank-20101217-190qf.html
Frank the bank
Sebastian Hassett
December 18, 2010
Sebastian Hassett: There's been a suggestion this week that serious questions should be asked of your leadership. How do you feel about that?
Frank Lowy: I'm holding this position because I was asked by the government to do that, and anybody who is in a leadership role of a public entity should be accountable, and I'm prepared to be accountable. I spoke openly and freely at last week's press conference for 45 minutes, and they questioned me. Being accountable is not a problem for me.
SH: Do you feel you are being unfairly targeted or disrespected by some quarters at the moment?
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FL: I don't go for that kind of shit. I'm not some kind of an icon. I did a job because I was asked to do it. I think I've made major changes but yes, we didn't succeed for the World Cup. It's no secret. Is it good we didn't succeed? No, it's not. Not everything is lay-down misere where you can win all these things. At the [media] meeting of ours, I made it clear the achievements, and I stand by them, but if somebody is going to be critical, well, it's a free country. There is a constitution, and if somebody wants to make a challenge or take the job, I am not sticking to the job to stay there. That's not my purpose. I've got plenty to do.
SH: Does such criticism ever make you want to leave the game?
FL: I'm not there to be criticised or not, I'm there to do a job, and succeed. I think that we have made huge progress, and I think we need more progress because there are more challenges. I am prepared to face them and see where we go. I am sure that the A-League will succeed but I know there is a lot of work to be done. We have been in the business only six years, and this is a little bit of dip this year. What does that mean, that we are out of business? No way.
SH: The word ''legacy'' has been used a lot lately. What sort of legacy would you like to leave for Australian football?
FL: I don't talk about legacy. I have a job to do, and I'm doing it. And I'm not expecting a legacy and I'm not expecting to get pride from some legacy, I'm doing a job that I believe needs to be done. I am willing to do it for the time, and I am not looking for some kind of an accolade or whatever. I don't consider myself anything special. I work hard.
SH: Whenever you ultimately leave football, will you have a succession plan in place for somebody to assume your position in the game?
FL: There's no public recognition of [this] person yet but I'm continually looking. The radar is out for somebody who is able and willing to do the job - and who can be elected by the constituents.
SH: Do you have anyone in mind?
FL: I don't know how long I am away from it but I am not yet in an anointing position. People have to put their hand up.
SH:You're going in for re-election next year. How long will you stay involved in the game?
FL: I don't know how long I will be healthy and well but I don't have any issues yet on that subject. How long is not in my hands.
SH:You seemed bewildered after the [World Cup ballot] result was first announced. How do you feel now that you've had some time to think about it?
FL: Let me tell you that I was confident in the last few days before the final decision. But something happened in the last day or last few days, of which I am not aware. I can't fully explain it. I have my theories but they are not for public debate … I don't believe the last word has been said on this.
SH:What do you mean by the ''last word''? Could Qatar lose the hosting rights to 2022?
FL: Nothing like that. I don't believe that, but my feeling is simply that the last word has not been said on the subject. I'm not questioning the final result and I'm not raising the final result, I'm just saying the final word has not been said.
SH:In hindsight, what did Qatar do better than Australia?
FL: I haven't figured it out yet. [Long pause]. But they were better than Korea, Japan and America too, not just Australia.
SH: They must have done something to win by such a margin.
FL: If I knew what it was, and it was in my power, I probably would have done it - if it was appropriate. I can't tell you because I just don't know.
SH: Do you believe Qatar acted appropriately throughout the bid process?
FL: I cannot make any comment on that.
SH:When Australia next bids for a World Cup, what are the lessons we should learn from the experience of bidding for 2022?
FL: I think we have done a fantastic technical bid. We were one of the three top bidders from both 2018 and 2022, so we'd done everything right there. The politics of it is not so predictable.
SH: Did you spend enough time on the political side of things?
FL: I thought I did. We all thought we did.
SH: Are you disappointed the technical aspects of the bid seemed to have been outright ignored?
FL: It appears that's what happened, and I would not have expected that.
SH: We all know the final video didn't lose Australia the vote, but the criticism has been huge. Do you regret the content of the video?
FL: We have employed the best people to do the video. We had a famous Australian producer, Philip Noyce, and he produced it. It was very well produced. It wasn't going to hit the technical issues. It was as part of ''Come Play'' strategy, and it was done in that vein. When I got off the stage in Zurich after the presentation, I got a lot of congratulations from the same people who didn't vote for us. Go figure. It could have been five or six different things, that was advised by the type of people who understand these things, and we accepted it. Was it good? I think it was very good. Was it the right thing? We can't say it wasn't or it was. Maybe some people didn't like it. But the decision was already made by the time the presentation was done. I feel like the decision was made by the time of the presentation, anyway.
SH: The lack of ''football people'' involved in the final presentation created a lot of controversy. Do you accept that criticism?
FL: No, I don't accept that. Firstly, we had the captain [Lucas Neill], and a prominent player [Tim Cahill] on the stage with us, and this ''football people'' thing continues to see us criticised. But I know of all the areas, professional football people are there. I mean, England had royalty, their prime minister and five or six others, including [David] Beckham, but I think this is a misconception that FIFA people would have been looking for two to three more Australian footballers on the stage. It wouldn't have made any difference. It wasn't about football. It wasn't about who was on stage, nor our technical ability to stage the events. It was politics. And I could have stood on my head, together with everybody in Australia who plays football, and the result would have been the same.
SH: How much does it hurt you that the final result had little to do with football?
FL: I'm cut up about it. A lot. I've been very upset. But I have to get on with life and like I say, the sun will shine the next day, and it did. Football in Australia has lost a big opportunity but it hasn't lost the opportunity to make the game the mainstream game. It will take a little longer and it will take a lot more hard work. But we will get there.
SH:How long will it take for football to be Australia's game?
FL: A few years, but not that many.
SH:Would you like it to happen in your lifetime?
FL: I certainly would but I don't know. The mainstream is a definition. Will we get there, averaging 15,000 to 20,000 people at each A-League game? That's what I'm talking about. Because we have qualified for the World Cup, twice in a row, we expect to be qualifying in 2014, we are going to go to the Asian Cup, I think we're going to do well. I think the game in Australia has changed dramatically and the game is now considered to be much more entertaining than it ever was before. We have a dip this year of spectators. It's not terminal but we need to fix our problems. We had a problem in Adelaide, which is solved now. We've had a problem on the Gold Coast, [but] we now have an owner that is willing to do the right thing. But in Townsville we need the people to come up with more than what they have done up to now and then we will support. We need Townsville people to take the lead, and we will support them if they take that lead. But we will not lead a team in Townsville. They need to lead it.
SH:If the North Queensland community cannot come up with the financial support you require, a scenario which looks increasingly likely, are you prepared to let them die?
FL: Let me answer that differently. We cannot own a team in Townsville. It's not our task, and we don't have the resources. I'm not prepared to let them die but we cannot own it. Do you understand the difference? We want to make this clear. We are prepared to support it but not own it - full stop.
SHomestically, the FFA has finally closed the door on Sydney Rovers. What went wrong?
FL: Those people promised me they would come up with the goods, and they didn't. Simple as that. We expected them to, they promised they would, but they didn't. So we have other people interested in Sydney.
SH:Are you satisfied that consortium was as committed as they should have been?
FL: Well they certainly made noises that they are. They've let us down - full stop. They let us down because they said it to me personally and to Ben [Buckley, FFA CEO], and they kept making all the right noises but they didn't come up when they needed to. It's very simple.
SH:So, where to now for western Sydney? When will we see a team there?
FL: There are other people interested in western Sydney, and we are continuing discussions there. I think to push it for 2011-12 would be a little ambitious and maybe not even viable. A team needs time to get ready. I mean, what is it with this timing issue? What is the problem whether we see a west Sydney team in 2011 or 2012? The fact is, it should be good. And it's a very important market so what's a year either way? I don't like to work to timetables when the principle is more important than the time.
SH:It was put forward last week by some that the A-League needs you to personally step in and boost the game with a substantial cash injection. Are you prepared to do this?
FL: It's not a matter of whether I'm prepared to. I'm the chairman of FFA, not the owner of the A-League. And therefore it's not appropriate to do that. I give a lot of my time, I also support it. I even used to own Sydney FC - which wasn't appropriate and who I don't own now - so it's not a matter of me putting money into the game. It is for me to fix the game, because a certain amount of money just coming in is not the answer. The answer is to fix the game, to get the support that it requires. That's what I need to do, that's what I'm trying to do, together with my team.
