K-League’s beneficial partnership with La Liga: A blueprint for the A-League?

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Late last year, the Korean K-League and Spain’s La Liga signed an MOU to advance the collaboration and communication between both leagues and mutually grow their competitions.

At the time of the announcement of the three-year partnership, matters that the two leagues were set to focus on included the development of sport projects, different training programs, addressing anti-piracy issues and creating an economic control mechanism for the K-League and its clubs.

Since last December, the leagues have conducted a wide range of joint workshops and campaigns on these different agenda items.

For example, La Liga has offered multiple training sessions to coaches and K-League staff based on the experience of the La Liga Sports Projects team in their initiatives across the globe. These sessions are held virtually (with a scope to return to face-to-face if COVID allows) with Spanish clubs such as Valencia CF and Elche participating in them, and is set to continue deep into the 2021/22 season.

Similarly to what has been done with coaching education, both leagues have held virtual training conferences on financial control to ensure the viability and long term growth of the K-League and its teams. Using an offline format, a mechanism which has allowed La Liga clubs to reduce their debt from €650 million in 2013 to €23 million in 2020 will also be explained this coming season.

A prominent area which the two leagues looked to address in the initial months of the agreement was the fight against audio-visual piracy. The K-League have launched the “Protect K-League” campaign and alongside the technological advancements developed by La Liga’s anti-piracy branch, this seems to be a high priority for the two competitions.

The eSports field will also be targeted in the coming months, with the K-League and La Liga to carry out joint projects and activations. Both countries have seen the importance of the gaming world and have grown significantly in this sector in recent years.

Yeon Sang Cho, general secretary of the K-League, spoke about the advantages of the arrangement with La Liga.

“Since the signing of the agreement last December we have seen how our relationship with La Liga has gone from strength to strength and how we have worked together to overcome such a difficult situation,” he told the La Liga Newsletter.

“We are impressed with La Liga’s commitment.

“Thanks to it we have been able to adapt to the limitations imposed by the pandemic; carry out virtual training meetings for K-League coaches and their clubs; and also an in-depth analysis of economic control mechanisms, which are key to creating a sustainable professional football industry. Here at the K-League we are very happy with the progress of the relationship and we look forward to a future where these ties become even stronger.”

Sangwon Seo, La Liga’s delegate in South Korea, spoke of the early success of the partnership.

“For us at La Liga it is a great source of pride to be able to count on such an important ally as the K-League and to share our knowledge and experience with them,” he told the La Liga Newsletter.

“These first months since the MOU was signed have been very productive and we have experienced a very enriching exchange of knowledge that has allowed us to move forward despite the global pandemic.

“At La Liga we face this season with great enthusiasm, and a desire to deepen our relationship with the K League and to bring our joint projects to fruition.”

It’s a great move for the K-League to improve their operations through help from one of the world’s top leagues, something which the A-League should envy.

Because of initiatives like this they are setting their clubs up financially for the long-term future and accessing training methods that are of a world class standard.

The A-League should be looking at this example of the collaboration between these two leagues if they want to become a more prominent competition in Asia.

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Central Coast Mariners enter into liquidation after financial troubles

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It was announced on Monday this week that the Central Coast Mariners will be temporarily managed by the APL Board during the sales process. The decision comes after several years of uncertainty and financial challenges within the club.

 

Short-term survival, long-term stability

It has been no secret that the Central Coast Mariners have struggled to balance their success on the pitch with administrative security off it. Years of financial turbulence and ownership changes have brought significant challenges to the club, culminating in the decision to enter the club into liquidation and seek a new buyer. 

While a sales process is completed and a stable, long-term owner sought out to secure the long-term future of the Mariners, the APL will act as a managing body on an interim basis. APL Chair, Stephen Conroy, has affirmed the board’s intentions to ensure the club’s survival despite current uncertainty. 

‘The APL Board is resolute in its commitment to fans and stakeholders to protect the game’s best interests, and make decisive action to ensure the ongoing growth, stability and integrity of the A-Leagues,’, he said via an APL statement on Monday. 

‘As custodians of the game, we believe it is the best course of proactive action – for the short and long term interest of the Club – to terminate the current CPA under the current ownership, and run an expedited and robust sale process to find a new and stable long-term owner for the Mariners,’ he continued. 

For now, the priority remains with ensuring the survival of one of the A-League’s most successful clubs. It is, of course, not just about the short-term survival of financial or commercial assets, but about restoring the long-term stability of the club’s board and the trust of the Mariners’ loyal fanbase.

 

A-League funding difficulties 

When previous owner, Richard Peil, announced his departure from the club in 2024, issues with funding from the APL were cited as explanations for the financial challenges experienced during his tenure. Across the span of two seasons, the annual distribution from the APL to each club fell from $2.35 million to $530,000. 

With such a significant cut, the Central Coast Mariners struggled to continue operating. Peil departed in 2024, returning operations back to Mike Charlesworth who had acted as chairman from 2013 to 2022.

The move came as a shock to the league and to the Mariners’ fanbase, who had enjoyed an incredible treble-winning year in 2024 and became the first professional men’s football club to achieve the feat. With such impressive achievements on the pitch overshadowed by challenges off it, the Central Coast Mariners are unfortunately not the first club faced with conflicting fortunes.

Mere months ago, Western United entered a period of ‘hibernation’ during the 2025/26 season to address several financial and legal issues. The decision left players and staff stranded, and featured as a source of criticism for the APL in the A-League Men Report 2024/25.

 

Hope for the future

Despite the troubling implications of another A-League club plagued by financial issues and with news breaking yesterday that the Central Coast Mariners’ Academy has also entered into liquidation, the future of the club is by no means over. 

As the main professional sports team representing the entire Central Coast, the club has huge potential to be both a sporting and commercial centre for the region going forward. Furthermore, with an impressive training infrastructure at the Mariner’s Centre of Excellence, and a proven history of high-quality players and coaches, the club has some of the essential ingredients to achieve new levels of success. 

The one thing which of course still remains, is a reliable and stable team behind the scenes who can steer the club back to the top of the A-League. To this end, Conroy has expressed his confidence in the APL to find the right buyer. 

“We believe in the value that Central Coast Mariners bring to the A-leagues. They’ve shown with the right investment and community engagement, they have a vibrant fanbase and a proven ability to consistently compete for on field success,” he said. 

“We are confident that with the engaged local and international interest, we can find the right buyer for the Mariners to take the Club forward and ensure their long term success.”

While uncertainty remains around the Mariners’ current situation and future owners, it will be hoped by fans, players and staff that years of off-pitch turbulence can be put to rest by a more stable and successful future. 

 

The A-League’s Mover and Shaker: Can Steve Rosich Kickstart Football’s Next Chapter?

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Could Steve Rosich be the mover and shaker Australian football has been waiting for? From leading the Melbourne Cup to transforming elite sporting clubs, Rosich now takes the reins of the A-Leagues with a powerhouse network of sponsors, a Chartered Accountant’s discipline, and a proven record of turning sports into commercial gold. Is this finally the game-changer football needs to kickstart its next chapter?
Image credit: One Nil Media

When the Australian Professional Leagues confirmed Steve Rosich as the new CEO of the A-Leagues, the football community couldn’t help but ask: Is this the mover and shaker who can finally kickstart the next chapter of our game? Curiosity, cautious optimism, and genuine hope are natural reactions. But after examining his résumé, leadership pedigree, and proven ability to transform sporting organisations into commercial powerhouses, one thing is clear: Steve Rosich has the potential to be exactly what Australian football needs right now.

If we are honest with ourselves, the A-Leagues are not short of passion. They are short of penetration. Football has the numbers, the multicultural breadth, the participation base and the long-term demographic wind behind it. What it has lacked is commercial conviction. This role requires a central figure who can mobilise investment, convince networks, and turn football from the ‘nearly product’ into a genuine entertainment powerhouse.

That is why Rosich’s appointment matters.

A Leader Forged in High Pressure Environments

Rosich does not arrive at the A-Leagues as an experimental project. His leadership record is built across three different elite sporting sectors, each requiring different forms of authority and strategic thinking.

At the Fremantle Dockers, he spent 11 years steering cultural shifts, long-term commercial planning, and stakeholder management in one of the most pressured environments in Australian sport, the AFL. You do not last a decade in that seat unless you can manage ego, media, board tensions, and commercial growth simultaneously.

Then came the Victoria Racing Club, custodian of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, The Race That Stops a Nation. That event is not a sporting fixture. It is a cultural institution. Rosich guided that organisation through pandemic disruption, shrinking tourism, shifting public sentiment, and operational uncertainty. Yet the Melbourne Cup retained its brand, its commercial partners and its relevance. That alone suggests a steady hand and a strategic head.

People forget he also stepped briefly into the medical technology sector with BrainEye, an unusual move but one that shows intellectual range, not a narrow sporting silo. Now he returns to football as CEO of the APL, stepping into the role officially in January 2026.

None of this is theory. It is hard-earned leadership.

The Commercial Rolodex That Matters

Elite sport grows on broadcast relevance, corporate investment, and scalable storytelling. It requires deal-making, not hope.

Rosich brings a corporate phonebook that can activate capital quickly. His longstanding relationships with brands such as Lexus (Toyota Australia), Crown, Kirin Beer, TCL and Howden are not superficial handshakes. They are built on years of commercial execution. If the A-Leagues are serious about revitalising sponsorship, broadcast engagement and experiential entertainment, then having a CEO capable of making the right calls to the right people is half the battle won.

Football does not just need ‘partners.’ It needs investors, activators and cultural amplifiers. Rosich has dealt with those brands before. He understands their expectations. He knows how to pitch ambition in commercial language, not sporting desperation.

If he can even convert a fraction of those relationships into aligned investment, the A-Leagues’ commercial landscape changes overnight.

Professional Discipline Not Just Passion

There is another aspect of Rosich’s appointment that deserves attention: his professional discipline. Rosich is a Chartered Accountant and at Soccerscene, we take that qualification seriously. We have been vocal in calling for Australian football administrators to adopt structured CPD frameworks, including professional standards and continuing education.

He is not a practising accountant, but he continues to uphold his membership by completing his CPD requirements and ongoing training. That signals accountability, standards, governance literacy and a commitment to continuous improvement.

We cannot demand a more professional football industry while accepting outdated administrative habits. Rosich represents the opposite, someone who keeps sharpening the tools rather than dining out on old achievements.

This is what modern sport requires.

The Strategic Assignment Waiting for Him

The football landscape Rosich inherits is not broken, but it is underleveraged.

The next two to three years must focus on:

• Commercial rebirth
• Fan-first narrative building
• Broadcast evolution
• International relevance
• Club alignment and industry unity

This requires a CEO who can think beyond short-term firefighting. Rosich has overseen environments where stakeholder diplomacy decides survival. He knows how to run a league as both an economic organism and a cultural asset.

And importantly, he understands that football cannot win hearts without winning the market.

A-League Football Needs a Catalyst Not a Caretaker

For too long, we have accepted incrementalism in football. Growth that is “good enough.” Strategic plans that tick boxes rather than punch holes through barriers.

The next chapter requires a catalyst, someone comfortable being a lightning rod for change.

Rosich does not need to pretend to be a lifelong football romantic. What he needs to be, and what his track record suggests he is, is a sports entertainment strategist. A deal-maker. A leader who knows how to change the expectation curve.

If he digs deep into his contact book, leverages his credibility and builds a unifying narrative around the game, then investment can return, broadcast value can lift, and the A-Leagues can finally behave like the entertainment product Australia keeps saying it wants.

A Final Assessment

Steve Rosich arrives with pressure on his shoulders. Great leaders need pressure.

He arrives with expectations. Football has waited long enough.

Most importantly, he arrives with the capacity to change the commercial gravity of the code.

If Australian football is serious about unlocking its next era, then we should back a leader who has already turned major sporting properties into economic brands.

In short, Rosich might be the right person at exactly the right time, and for a code that has spent decades asking for belief, that is a very encouraging starting point.

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