Off The Pitch Podcast: Jehan Ratnatunga on Who Gives a Crap

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Image Credit: Who Gives a Crap

In episode five of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, Who Gives a Crap co-founder Jehan Ratnatunga discusses the journey of his organisation and its recent partnership with English football team, Lewes FC.

Who Gives a Crap is a Melbourne born organisation which sells eco-friendly household products with the intention of donating 50% of all profits made to those across the world who do not have access to adequate sanitation.

Originally founded in 2012, the company initially sold toilet paper in order to fund improved access to toileting for the two billion people without access to a toilet at the time. Since then, Who Gives a Crap has moved into selling a range of everyday items such as kitchen towels, garbage bags and more.

Additionally, the organisation has made moves outside of Australia, expanding globally into United States, Canadian, United Kingdom and European markets.

Ratnatunga cast a light on the mantra which he believed set Who Gives a Crap apart from its competitors.

“We have this Venn diagram of looks good, feels good, does good,” he said on the podcast.

“So, our toilet paper looks good, in that it’s beautifully, individually wrapped. At the time we started, nobody was really doing that. All the packaging was plastic wrappers and boring.

“The idea behind looks good was could we make a product as boring as toilet paper something that people would take out from below the sink and put it on display? And in fact, it’s gone further than that. We’ve had people post it on their Instagram. We’ve had people use it in their wedding as gifts to the guests.

“ Feel good is really about the customer experience.  It’s delivered straight to your door.  You can buy it in supermarkets. And the quality of the paper is really soft and strong for customers.

“And then does good is that it has to be a product that gives back, that’s the whole point of Who Gives a Crap. That’s why it’s called Who Gives a Crap. So, we donate 50% of our profits.”

Last year in August, Who Gives a Crap partnered with Lewes FC, an English football side to promote sanitary activism at a new community level. Ratnatunga explained the goals for the collaboration.

“The sponsorship is not just about creating fame or awareness for the brand, but how we can actually create impact – that’s what’s really interesting for us,” he said.

“We have a shared goal through this partnership to raise 25,000 pounds, which is about 50,000 Australian dollars, for sanitation.”

To learn more about Who Gives a Crap and its work with Lewes FC, listen to the full interview with Jehan Ratnatunga on episode five of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting apps.

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GIS Sydney continues to connect students with Australia’s sports industry

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Image Credits: Global Institute of Sport

Following the launch of its Sydney campus in 2025, the Global Institute of Sport (GIS) is continuing to establish itself in the nation’s sports industry. A leading provider of degrees and executive education in sport, GIS provides students the chance to study at two of Australia’s biggest sporting venues: Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Programs such as Sports Analytics and International Sports Business are delivered in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, and feature the chance for students to gain exclusive access to the sports industry.

More than 50 guest speakers have shared their experience with students studying at GIS Sydney, representing organisations like FIFA, Red Bull, Cricket Australia, and the AFL. While learning about the regional and national sports industry in the classroom, students have also had the chance to gain an international perspective through GIS’ signature Global Sports Summits, which have given Sydney students access to iconic sporting venues around the world from London to Miami.

Outside of the iconic venues students can call their classrooms, the organisation prioritises the real, industry placements needed to put theory into practice by providing each student with 140 hours of relevant work experience throughout their studies. Included in this are several sporting organisations who are keen to welcome GIS students on board, including the Professional Football Scouts Association (PFSA), Football Coaches Australia, and Basketball NSW.

GIS also has a partnership with popular network and app Yakka Sport to connect students with paid employment opportunities while they study.

Behind these advancements at the GIS Sydney campus is an Industry Advisory Board which features a host of experienced figures from the world of sport. Included in the Asia-Pacific branch is Chair James Rosengarten, GM of the Melbourne Renegades; Kevin Jang, Managing Director of CAA Stellar Korea; and Brad Lloyd, GM of the Carlton Football Club.

Since launching, GIS’ Sydney campus has ultimately combined its locations and industry connections to provide the next generation of sports professionals with the knowledge, network, and confidence to tackle the rapidly evolving sports industry.

Brazil is coming. But what is the real price of bringing football’s giants to Australia?

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Image Credits: Shutterstock

There is something undeniably exciting about Brazil coming to Australia. The five-time World Cup winners will face the Socceroos twice in Queensland from Friday, with Townsville and Brisbane set to host the blockbuster fixtures.

For Australian football, these are the kind of games that should be anticipated, celebrated and capture the public’s attention. But they also raise questions: how much should Australian football pay to bring the world’s biggest nations here, and when does the bill become too big? 

The cost of bringing the big names

Australia has always paid up to bring big names down under. Last week’s NFL game in Melbourne, at a cost of between $10 and 15 million dollars to the Victorian Government, is just the latest example.

It could cost the same amount to bring Brazil to Queensland. A report in The Sydney Morning Herald last year revealed Brazil was reportedly seeking around $7.5 million per match to play in Australia. The fee is in line with other major international events; Western Australia reportedly faced a bill of around $12 million in taxpayer funding for the recent Perth Italian Football Festival.

I’m worried Football Australia won’t get return on investment to make this particular event worthwhile. The enormous fee to bring Brazil to Australia can’t immediately be justified as an investment in our footballing future. Instead, Football Queensland and the state government could have put these funds into grassroots facilities. Part of Football Queensland’s scrapped state headquarters investment plan was to spend $8.5 million to refurbish fields, lights, drains and irrigation at Mappas and Meakin parks. Instead of these plans to invest in the state’s youth players and academies, money has been spent on two international friendlies.

So ahead of the fixtures, the question remains: will these games inspire the future generation, and will participation grow? The NFL match was impossible to ignore: a sold-out MCG and a live audience of 2.1 million on free-to-air, not even including those watching on ESPN and Netflix. Football Australia is not simply buying 90 minutes of football; it is buying the attention that comes with Brazil. So let’s see if they can maximize returns. 

Ticketing Tells a Story

Ticket sales provide insight into the interest in the fixture. Brisbane has sold much quicker than Townsville, but neither have sold out as yet. The fact these games didn’t immediately sell out may be considered surprising as there is a genuine appetite in Australia for elite international football at the moment, evidenced by SBS’ World Cup viewership numbers of 17.1 million.

Brazil is bringing some of its brightest stars: Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Bruno Guimaraes, Marquinhos and Endrick are among the headline names in their squad. The star power is there. So why haven’t these matches sold out? There’s a chance it comes down to the competition and the visibility of the event.

The viewing problem

The timing of this fixture could raise eyebrows amongst fans. As much as Australia and Brazil will draw huge crowds, both games fall on either side of the AFL Grand Final. The 2024 AFL Grand Final, which involved Queensland’s Brisbane Lions, drew over 4 million viewers on free-to-air. Brisbane, who have won the last two premierships, will feature once again on Grand Final day. Therefore, fans who could’ve attended may instead be making the trip to Melbourne.

Then comes the strangest part: one of the fixtures Australia will play will not even be available on free-to-air television. The Townsville match will be shown free on Network 10 and 10 Streaming, as well as Paramount+. The Brisbane match, however, will be available exclusively on Paramount+. That creates a disconnect. If governments and football administrators are spending millions to bring a global sporting brand to Australia, why should a large section of the Australian public need a subscription to watch the second match?

The Brisbane game is behind a paywall, limiting the national reach of the event. Reach is surely part of the justification for spending big on Brazil, it’s not just that 50,000 people get to sit inside Suncorp Stadium. It is that millions of Australians get exposed to the spectacle and if that audience is restricted, the value of this fixture is limited.

A solution could be to spend the money on advertising the match to the public to try to generate interest across streaming and free-to-air. With less than a week until the first game I don’t believe the advertising has done enough to generate enough interest to justify a $15 million price tag for the two game series. 

The Brazil friendlies will be spectacular. They should attract big crowds, create memories and give the Socceroos an excellent test against one of football’s most recognisable nations. But for the appropriate return, attention must be measured. Does this fixture carry on the Socceroos hype and keep the eyeballs of the general public on our sport? I’m not convinced. However, if these matches bring new fans to football, strengthen the national team and create lasting investment in the sport, the enormous price tag could still be justified. But if they simply produce two nights of football before the attention disappears, then Australian football has paid a premium for a very expensive show.

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