Football Australia Director Heather Reid voted off NSO’s board

February 22, 2021

Sport /

Controversial Football Australia Director Heather Reid has been voted off the national sporting organisation’s board.

Reid, whose position has been seen as untenable as a result of her role in the sacking of former Matildas coach Alen Stajcic in early 2019, was voted off the Football Australia board on Friday after a motion was put forward by Football NSW.

Reid, whose experience includes being National Executive Director of the Australian Women's Soccer Association, the first female Chief Executive of a state football federation (ACT Football Federation Ltd/Capital Football), and a member of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup organising committee, was voted to the Football Australia board in November 2018.

However, she was implicated in the sacking of Stajcic after two damning reports into team culture in January 2019.

Later that month, Reid stood down from her position to undergo chemotherapy.

With her role in the sacking later revealed, in May that year she “unreservedly apologised” to Stajcic for the “pain and suffering” caused to him by her comments at the time of his dismissal, admitting sending personal communications to a number of people, including journalists, in which she implied misconduct on the part of Stajcic was behind his departure from his role with the national women’s football team.

Not resigning following her apology, Reid remained a member of what was then the Football Federation Australia board, returning to her role in November 2019 after successful medical treatment.

While no official reason has been given for the vote against Reid, the ABC reported unnamed sources as saying it was “over historic grievances”.

Reid’s departure comes in the week that Football Australia will be unveiling its FIFA Women's World Cup Legacy Program, a key feature of which is women's leadership within the sport

Due to be presented at Parliament House in Canberra tomorrow, the legacy plan presents a blueprint for how Football Australia plans to capitalise on the interest and investment the tournament will attract.

Spearheaded by Football Australia’s new Head of Women’s Football and Women’s World Cup Legacy and Inclusion, Sarah Walsh, the plan addresses five key pillars that the tournament will help activate: participation, community facilities, high performance, tourism and international engagement, and leadership and development.

Walsh told Guardian Australia, “the legacy plan is something we started thinking about the day after winning the bid.

“We already had an idea on the initiatives we really wanted to highlight through hosting the Women’s World Cup, so for us it’s about building out areas of the game that we think need further investment and areas of the game we think the World Cup will help us accelerate.”

Following Reid’s expulsion, the seven member Football Australia board includes three women.

8th January 2021 - Football Australia looks to open domestic transfer market

31st December 2020 - A-League completes separation from Football Australia

26th November 2020 - FFA announces new Football Australia branding

21st November 2019 - Two female directors join Football Federation Australia board

23rd November 2020 - FFA announces commitment to new era for Indigenous football

7th July 2020 - FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 delivered US$321 million economic boost

26th June 2020 - Australasian cities and venues look forward to hosting of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

15th February 2021 - CAS finds Asian Football Confederation guilty of discrimination, interference and denial of justice

12th September 2017 - Landmark pay rise for women footballers

31st May 2019 - FFA Director Heather Reid apologises ‘unreservedly’ to sacked Matildas coach

31st January 2019 - FFA Deputy Chair Heather Reid takes indefinite leave to undergo chemotherapy

22nd February 2019 - Football participation reaches record levels

21st March 2016 - Capital Football names Phil Brown as new Chief Executive

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