Community in Business panel gives its verdict on the Women’s World Cup

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Football Victoria Community in Business
Image credit: Mark Avellino

At Football Victoria’s Community in Business Half-Time Luncheon, Michael Zappone sat down with three panel members to discuss the upcoming Women’s World Cup, as he shared a discussion with Matilda cap #204 Karly Roestbakken, Young Matilda Paige Zois and Channel 7 commentator David Basheer.

The line-up of players in the Matildas’ squad boasts a dynamic blend of youth and experience and is selected from across Australia, representing seven different Member Federations.   

The team will be led by forward Sam Kerr as captain in her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup, and defender Steph Catley as vice-captain in her third appearance at the prestigious quadrennial tournament.

Lydia Williams and Clare Polkinghorne, revered figures in Australian football, have earned the distinction of being the only male or female Australian players to participate in five FIFA World Cup finals tournaments. Their inclusion in the squad is a testament to their immense skill, dedication, and enduring legacy. 

CommBank Matildas’ head coach Tony Gustavsson said the team are looking forward to sharing the FIFA Women’s World Cup experience with the nation. While he has selected 15 players who were part of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign and with seven players in line to make their FIFA Women’s World Cup debuts.   

With all panel members stating the significance of the event, Basheer offered: “I think it’s going to be transformational for Australian soccer because the game grows every four year cycle, if things go right we could see a really special performance from the Matildas.”

The Matildas may have their best ever chance at lifting the world cup trophy, with the panel members all predicting Australia to win the tournament. Roestbakken discussed the confidence the team has, especially playing on home soil making it a special place to play and a motivational boost.

“In all four previous world cups I’ve covered, this is the deepest squad Australia has ever had” Basheer said after backing up everyone’s prediction of Australia winning the tournament.

After being prompted ‘what do you think this will do for women’s football in Australia’, Zois offered: “It’s a rare thing to have a world cup in your backyard, football has already come a long way and this world cup is an opportunity to further grow the profile of the sport in Australia and I’m excited to see the impact this has on the legacy we are all contributing to.”

Basheer added that the game has evolved heavily in the last 10 years, noting the Ireland women’s national team – who are a competitor of the Matildas recently – recorded their highest ever crowd of 7,000, while the Matildas will soon play in front of 50,000 against France at Marvel Stadium. The numbers speak for themselves as the Matildas are building momentum heading into the tournament.

However, Zappone suggested the public aren’t aware of how big of a deal this is for the country. 

Basheer highlighted the Socceroos’ success and the country heavily supporting them during their World Cup performance and suggests the same will happen with the Matildas. He spoke on the growth of the game but suggested the women’s game has evolved almost too quickly and suggests the squad size should be 26 players so the game ‘hasn’t got that right’.

Women’s football as a whole will be positively impacted by the tournament and the excitement it will create amongst football fans.

“There’s a commercial market, it is a big sport waiting to show its face,” Basheer explained on the growth of the game.

The Matildas’ opening match of the World Cup will take place on July 20 when they take on the Republic of Ireland on the opening day of the tournament.

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Bordeaux face uncertain future after American investor withdrawal

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Image Credits: EuropeanBestDestinations.com

Girondins de Bordeaux face their biggest crisis yet after their exclusion from France’s national competitions was upheld and proposed investor Park Bench walked away from a takeover. The club is on the brink of liquidation after poor financial management and failed ownership takeovers. The Paris Administrative Court rejected Bordeaux’s appeal in August. The court backed the decision that prevents the club from playing in national competitions for the 2026-27 season. Bordeaux will therefore this season remain in Régional 1, the sixth tier of French football.

The ruling followed a financial dispute with French football’s financial regulator, the DNCG. Bordeaux had presented additional financial guarantees after its previous hearing. The court ruled that those commitments could not be considered as part of that procedure.

The decision has now had a major impact on the club’s ownership plans. Park Bench, the US investment group working with Sparta Capital, has withdrawn from its proposed takeover. The group said its offer depended on Bordeaux remaining in the national championships. With that condition no longer possible, Park Bench decided not to proceed.

The withdrawal leaves Bordeaux in a difficult position. The club had hoped new investment would provide financial stability and help rebuild its sporting operation. Instead, the failure of the takeover leaves the future of the six-time French champions uncertain. Bordeaux has already endured several years of financial problems. The club lost its professional status in 2024 after bankruptcy proceedings and a previous administrative relegation. It then rebuilt its senior team in the second and third tiers of French football.

The latest exclusion represents another major setback. Bordeaux now needs to find a way to keep the club operating outside the national leagues. That means securing funding, meeting its financial obligations and establishing a sustainable ownership structure. The threat of judicial liquidation now hangs over the club.

In a statement issued in late August, Bordeaux said it would explore every remaining legal option after the administrative court ruling. But with Park Bench no longer backing the proposed takeover, the club has fewer options available.

The next priority will be survival. Bordeaux must find new financial backing or another solution to protect the club from liquidation. For one of France’s most historic and successful clubs, the immediate target is no longer a return to Ligue 1. It is simply making sure there is a club left to climb back.

Australia football needs to fix its football governance before it can fix its referees

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Image Credits: Football Australia

The clearest image yet of Australian football’s refereeing crisis arrived on Wednesday night as Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory met in an Australia Cup semi-final at Jubilee Stadium.

A first ever Big Blue in the competition – and towards it’s pointy end – should have been a showcase event for Australian football but instead, the referees were in the spotlight. Not because of the quality of their officiating, but because of the dire situation the game finds itself in and it’s present need to resort to international imports.

Four Singaporean referees were in charge of the fixture, which Victory won 2-0. Australian referees had refused appointments because of their ongoing dispute with Football Australia. The issue is no longer theoretical. Australian referees are not simply threatening industrial action – their absence has already changed how major matches are delivered. That is a governance failure on the part of Football Australia and the Australian Professional League.

What are the referees fighting for?

Around 90 elite Australian match officials are currently without contracts. That includes referees, assistant referees, fourth officials and video match officials working across the A-Leagues and Australia’s national competitions. The previous contracts expired last month. Some officials are also waiting for outstanding payments from A-League trial matches.

 The Professional Football Referees Association (PFRA) has set three main requirements:

  • It wants the existing contracts extended until June 30, 2027, or until a new agreement or independent refereeing structure is established. 
  • It wants all outstanding match fees and expenses paid.
  • It wants a professional refereeing structure that does not place elite officials directly under the APL, which is controlled by the clubs they officiate. A new central structure is what the referees are demanding and should get.

Evgeny Vizelman, chairman of the PFRA, believes that whilst the strike action is extreme, it is necessary to protect Australian referees.

“We do not take the decision to stop officiating matches lightly,” Vizelman told Sydney Morning Herald last week.

“Our referees are being asked to perform in one of the most scrutinised roles in Australian sport without basic certainty around their employment and, in some cases, without even being paid for work already completed. That is not acceptable.”

Football Australia and the APL have been working towards a new structure, but one in which the two organisations contract separately for Australia Cup and A-League matches. The referees believe that is the wrong model.

Their concern is simple: The APL is 67.7% owned by the A-League Club Unitholders. Essentially, the clubs are appointing their own referees. That creates a perceived conflict.

If the referees sit under Football Australia as a regulator, it ensures there is no conflict of interest and that A-League clubs have no opportunity to influence the referees they may be appointed to matches.

England shows another way

England has already built the structure Australia is struggling to create. Professional Game Referees, or Pro Ref, is the central body overseeing refereeing across the Premier League, EFL, WSL Football and FA competitions. It is funded by those aforementioned competitions.

The important distinction is those competitions do not each run their own separate professional refereeing workforce. Pro Ref manages the system. It oversees appointments, development, training and performance. For the 2026-27 season, its new Professional Referee Group will service the Premier League and EFL Championship.

Officials work within the same professional structure and can be selected across competitions. That centralisation brings consistency. It also allows referees to be treated as a professional group rather than a collection of officials contracted separately by different competitions.

Whilst it is centralised, the system is not perfect. England has also recognised the need for greater independence in assessing referee performances due to Pro Ref being owned and funded by leagues and, as a result, the clubs they represent. However, as the body is also owned in part by the English FA, the governing body can oversee practices.

Pro Ref has also implemented world-leading officiating practices. Its Key Match Incidents panel includes former players and coaches, alongside representatives from the Premier League and Pro Ref, and reviews major decisions independently each week.

Pro Ref now has dedicated development groups, specialist coaching, sports science, psychology and performance analysis. 37 Pro Ref officials are currently on the FIFA International List. That does not prove centralisation alone creates better referees. But it shows what happens when refereeing receives a professional structure, long-term investment and consistent management.

Australian football needs to collaborate

This is where the Australian dispute becomes bigger than referees. Football Australia and the APL have been unable to secure agreement over who funds the referees over a long period of time, leading to this standoff; it comes at the same time as the APL’s difficulty in negotiating a new CBA with the players’ union.

 Both organisations have a role in running their respective parts of the Australian game, but again an industrial dispute has the game appearing in shambles on the eve of another domestic season.

 The most frustrating part of this dispute is that everyone needs the same thing. Football Australia and the APL need referees; there is no doubt the refs deeply value their employment at the elite level. With due respect to Wednesday’s flow-in Singaporean officials – themselves from a valued partner member through our shared position in the AFC – nobody wants to see the circumstances under which they were required on Wednesday continue any longer.

The PFRA dispute should therefore be treated as more than an industrial disagreement. It is an opportunity to fix the structure. Australia should learn from the principle behind Pro Ref and the English system. Centralise, professionalise and protect the officials who manage the game.

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