Australia Cup confirmed as national knockout competition

Liam Watson

Football Australia has confirmed tonight that from the 2022 edition onwards, Australia’s largest national knockout football competition will be known as the ‘Australia Cup’.The transition from the FFA Cup, which was established in 2014, to the Australia Cup will take place over the coming weeks as the Preliminary Rounds of the 2022 competition get underway in States and Territories across the nation.The switch to the Australia Cup name heralds a new era for a competition that routinely attracts over 700 clubs from all divisions of football across Australia, uniting the grassroots, amateur, and professional levels of the sport.However, the change in name also integrates and acknowledges Australian football’s storied past. Between 1962 and 1968, the original Australia Cup was contested between leading state league teams of the time.Football Australia Chief Executive Officer James Johnson saw the Australia Cup name as a popular option amongst the game’s stakeholders when research and consultation was conducted regarding changing the name of the competition, following Football Australia’s own name change from Football Federation Australia (FFA) in December 2020.“Through discussion with Australian football historians, and dialogue with fans and stakeholders of the competition, the consensus was that the name Australia Cup truly speaks to what this competition is and represents. We are pleased that through this process pioneering players, clubs, and officials can feel recognised and connected to the competition,” Johnson said.“The research and consultation we have conducted regarding this name change indicates that people will be overwhelmingly happy with the shift to Australia Cup from 2022 onwards.“We have really evolved the FFA Cup competition this year and changing the name of the competition to the Australia Cup is an exciting next step in this evolution. It was a year of many firsts – the first time the competition was played live and free-to-air via Network 10, giving it unprecedent exposure. We also scheduled matches in the final stages of the competition so that some were played on weekends, making it more friendly for the thousands of supporters across the country. The granting of one of Australia’s ‘half-spots’ in the AFC Champions League also meant that this year community clubs right up to Isuzu UTE A-League clubs could dream of representing their supporters, communities, and Australia on the international stage.“Our Cup competition has always been one which has connected and united Australia’s football community, and we believe the name change will ultimately serve to elevate the competition in the national and international consciousness, as clubs aspire to win a competition that represents our entire football ecosystem.“As the Australia Cup in 2022, we want to see more clubs from right across the country join the competition. We will see a competition where every game matters. Being played in the winter months, we also anticipate that football will be fast-paced and exciting. We are very excited about the start of a new chapter for the Australia Cup in 2022.”The Australia Cup name was made official on Network 10’s live and free coverage of the last ever FFA Cup match, held this evening in the FFA Cup Final 2021 between Melbourne Victory FC and Central Coast Mariners FC, at Melbourne’s iconic AAMI Park (kick-off 8pm AEDT).The broadcast included the airing of a video showcasing some of the origins of the Australia Cup and reflecting on its history, with comments from winners Joe Alagich, John McDaid, John Brown, Alistair Scott, Stan Ackerley, and Ray Baartz, as well as football historian George Cotsanis.

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Football West runs Indigenous pilot program during NAIDOC Week’s 50th anniversary

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Image Credit: Football West

Football West ran a pilot program for Indigenous children at the Sam Kerr Football Centre during NAIDOC Week’s 50th anniversary. Former Socceroo David Williams delivered the session.

This year’s national NAIDOC theme, “50 Years of Deadly,” marks five decades since the movement began. It honours the Elders, artists and communities who built it.

“Having these young indigenous kids here at the Sam Kerr Football Centre was great to see,” Williams said. “The feeling they got running around the same pitch the Socceroos and Matildas have trained on was special for them and me.”

A player turned administrator

Williams retired from professional football in November 2025 after a career-ending ACL injury. As a teenager he trained with Club Brugge and Liverpool, and coach Miron Bleiberg once described him as the “best Australian prospect since Harry Kewell.”

He went on to become the first Indigenous player to represent Melbourne City, scored in the UEFA Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt, and won the Indian Super League with ATK.

Since retiring, Williams has moved into administration at Football West. He also sits on the Indigenous Football Australia Council, which oversees the grassroots initiative John Moriarty Football.

A name with its own history

Football Australia named Williams head coach of the Charles Perkins XI last year, the governing body’s national Indigenous youth team. Football Australia renamed the side in 2025 in honour of Dr Charles Perkins AO, following endorsement from the Perkins family and the National Indigenous Advisory Group.

Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon man, played for Adelaide Croatia and Pan Hellenic in the 1950s. He went on to become the first Aboriginal Australian to graduate from university and a leader of the 1965 Freedom Rides.

Football Australia has described the renamed team as reflecting a commitment to embedding cultural identity and leadership within its high-performance pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.

What happens next

“After living out my dream as a professional player, to now being able to offer experiences like this and hopefully inspire the next generation of young Indigenous footballers is very rewarding,” Williams said. “There is also a lot of talent that we can tap into.”

He said running the session during NAIDOC Week let Football West mark two things at once. “Creating a fun session for these kids during NAIDOC Week meant we could celebrate culture and sport in one go,” he said.

Williams wants the session to become a regular fixture rather than a single event. “Going forward, I would love to put on more of these programs throughout the year and get more indigenous youngsters playing football,” he said.

Football West has not yet confirmed funding or a schedule for further sessions.

FIFA sparks widespread backlash with private investment proposal

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Image credit: BBC Sport

In a shock announcement made on Tuesday this week, FIFA revealed plans to create a subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to manage commercial and event operations for major competitions, including the World Cup. FIFA promises to reinvest all benefits back into the game, but the plan is receiving widespread criticism from governing bodies and governments around the world.

 

“Unleashing” football’s commercial power

Following the huge financial success of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino indicated plans to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity” at FIFA’s disposal.

Indeed, it appears Infantino is wasting no time in capitalising on the tournament’s success, which generated AUD 21 billion (USD 15 billion) for FIFA.

An eye-watering number. A tournament record. And, apparently, still not enough.

Tuesday’s announcement made clear the intention to bring commercial rights under a new subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). This, according to FIFA, could generate AUD 6 billion (USD 4.2 billion) of initial capital with all net benefits going back into grassroots and infrastructure development for Member Associations (MA) through the FIFA Forward programme.

The money would be raised by selling minority stakes in FFE to private third-party investors, although FIFA has outlined that it will retain “sole control of FFE”.

The venture has a reported valuation of AUD 29 billion (USD 20 billion), prompting questions and backlash from around the world over who will actually benefit from the finances – and whether anyone should benefit at all.

 

What are critics saying?

On the surface, the principle of generating more money for MAs and investing into grassroots, coaching, women’s and youth football is a worthwhile ambition.

Currently, each MA receives AUD 11.5 million (USD 8 million) per year from FIFA Forward. FIFA affirms that, should the proposal go through, this funding would increase to AUD 29 million (USD 20 million) between 2027-2030.

However, several governing bodies, including UEFA, Concacaf and the English FA, are adamantly fighting the plans.

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said via an official statement on social media.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA continued.

“None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

Concacaf also expressed deep concern over the reports, citing a distinct lack of warning and due process from FIFA prior to the announcement.

“We share the disappointment of many within our region and the game that this level of detail has been designed and shared publicly before any discussion with the relevant governance bodies and stakeholders has taken place,” Concacaf said via official statement.

“As leaders within football, we are custodians of the game. Collectively, FIFA, the Confederations and every Member Association have a responsibility to always act in the best interests of the sport.”

Further concerns also centre around the company set to lead the proposed investor group – Thrive Eternal. Founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Thrive Eternal’s role in the venture opens the door to potential conflicts of interests – and emboldens criticisms that Infantino’s relationship with the US President is compromising his leading role in football’s international governing body.

 

Football was never about the money

Investing into the game is vital to football’s sustained future, especially for nations without the financial power to fund it independent of football’s governing body.

Nobody will argue that supporting the entire football pyramid – from grassroots to professional, men’s and women’s, youth and para, playing and coaching – should benefit from the financial might of the sport’s elite.

And FIFA is promising such benefits for all – arriving in the form of tens of millions of dollars – and stemming from third-party investors intrigued by the commercial value of the beautiful game.

But this is exactly where the venture’s flaws start to appear.

Rhetoric about increasing football’s commercial power following the 2026 World Cup leads the governing body down a slippery slope to a sport which prioritises money over integrity, due process and the fans who uphold it week-in week-out.

Football – from its very first beginnings as a working class sport – was never about the money.

Although modern commercialisation has turned clubs into businesses and players into tradable assets, everyone within the pyramid is a custodian of the game.

The game is not a product to sell – especially by those entrusted to uphold its integrity.

 

What happens now?

FIFA stated its intentions to only proceed with the venture if it receives support from the majority of MAs. While many are already uniting in opposition to the proposal, there are national governing bodies who have vocalised their support, including the Czech FA.

UEFA, on the other hand, is set to hold an emergency meeting with its 55 members to discuss a potential boycott of future tournaments.

But with a deadline of September 19 for MAs to accept the proposal, and the promise of a payment worth AUD 57.5 million (USD 40 million) if they do, the next eight weeks will reveal the future of the game and the nature of its global governance.

FIFA’s plan, although laced with promises of investment, development and growth for all, has instead kicked off a contest to save the game’s soul – or change it forever.

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