"Two significant losses, and increasing losses year-on-year, is obviously not a situation that is sustainable or acceptable." Those are the words of Football Australia CEO Martin Kugeler, and they land harder when you consider the backdrop: Australia is days away from an A-League Men's grand final and weeks from a World Cup.
FA is preparing to cut up to 20% of its workforce — roughly 40 people from an organisation of just under 200 — as it braces for a second consecutive record financial loss, this one set to exceed last year's AU$8.5 million ($6 million) deficit. The exact figure drops at the annual general meeting on May 28.
The numbers don't add up
Here's what makes this genuinely confusing: Football Australia has had every reason to be flush. Australia co-hosted the 2023 Women's World Cup, which shattered attendance and TV records and turned the Matildas into one of the country's most marketable sports brands. They hosted the Women's Asian Cup earlier this year. The Socceroos just qualified for a sixth straight World Cup and will pocket a minimum of AU$12.5 million from FIFA when the tournament kicks off on June 11.
And yet the losses are growing, not shrinking.
That's a structural problem, not a bad year. It suggests revenue windfalls aren't translating into sustainable operations — costs are outrunning income regardless of what's happening on the pitch or in the stands. For anyone trying to read FA's long-term stability, that's the story behind the story.
What actually gets cut — and what doesn't
Kugeler has been clear that the men's and women's national teams won't be touched. The Socceroos' World Cup campaign and the Matildas' ongoing program are ringfenced. This is an administrative and operational restructure, not a football decision.
That's cold comfort for the staff affected, and it does raise questions about what capacity Football Australia loses in terms of development, commercial operations, and domestic competition support — areas that rarely make headlines but matter for long-term growth.
Saturday's A-League Men's grand final between Auckland FC and Sydney FC — notably being held in New Zealand, the first time the decider has left Australian soil — goes ahead without disruption. But the organisation running Australian football is shrinking right at the moment it should be building.
