Football Australia implements its first licensing regulations for domestic clubs

May 13, 2022

Events / Legal / Sport / Venues /

Football Australia aims to strengthen the professional landscape of Australian football with the implementation of the Football Australia Club Licensing system for A-League Men and A-League Women clubs.

Football Australia Chief Executive, James Johnson advised that this pilot implementation is the first phase, with the Club Licensing system to soon begin rolling out to other tiers of club football.

The Football Australia Club Licensing Regulations include principle-based criteria in five areas – sporting, infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal, and financial competitions at the domestic and/or regional level. To date, Football Australia has only licensed clubs to participate in Asian Football in Confederation (AFC) Club Competitions.

Present in all six Confederations around the world, Club Licensing is a regulatory and development tool that sets and increases standards for football clubs, and in turn, improves and professionalises the game at multiple levels of the football pyramid.

Johnson, who oversaw the global Club Licensing program while at FIFA, said this initiative is about raising the standards of professionalism at football clubs and safeguarding competitions noted “Football Australia wants to cultivate and support a thriving football ecosystem, and one of the most effective ways to raise overall standards and performance pathways is through Club Licensing.

“Club Licensing will now become a key strategic initiative for football clubs as they consider their day-to-day operations and plans for growth. We have seen this system rolled out across the world with great success, and we anticipate that it will operate as an effective development tool for Australian clubs.

The implementation of Football Australia Club Licensing in 2022 is a first for Australian domestic football, where A-League Men clubs will complete full implementation of the Regulations, and A-League Women clubs will complete a pilot implementation for both the A-League Women and the AFC Women’s Champions League criteria.

The pilot implementation provides an opportunity for A-League Women clubs to go through the Club Licensing process and for Football Australia to review submissions, making any adjustments to the A-League Women criteria prior to full implementation, as well as prepare clubs for the full implementation of the AFC Women’s Champions League criteria ahead of the inaugural edition of the regional club competition muted for 2024.

Football Australia Club Licensing Manager Natalie Lutz explained that Football Australia is in a unique position, as the sport’s governing body will be implementing Club Licensing for both men and women at the same time, whereas many Member Associations the world over have had men’s Club Licensing in place and are only recently incorporating women’s Club Licensing at the domestic level.

Lutz advised “Improving standards for both men and women involved in Australia’s professional leagues is a sharp focus for Football Australia. The development and implementation of Club Licensing for both A-League Men and A-League Women clubs in the same year demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to elevating men’s and women’s club football.

“As Licensor of the system, Football Australia is responsible for creating regulations, determining the scope of application of the system, developing criteria, establishing the decision-making bodies and procedures, and providing ongoing communication and assistance to clubs.

“It is Football Australia’s intention to continually increase the criteria and standards of these five areas over time, in turn creating more sustainable clubs and competitions which will support a more prosperous football landscape.”

A-League Men and A-League Women clubs are now in receipt of the Football Australia Club Licensing Regulations, as well as the manual and templates, with submissions taking place until early August 2022 ahead of licensing decisions made in mid-August 2022 for A-League Men clubs.

Parallel to A-League Men and A-League Women implementation, Football Australia is in the process of expanding the Club Licensing framework to include the National Second Tier and National Premier League, with specific criteria to be developed for each competition.

Read the full Domestic Club Licensing Regulations For Australian Professional Leagues

4th May 2022 - Football Australia run pilot FIFA coach education development pathway program

7th March 2022 - Football Australia launches ParaMatildas

17th December 2021 - Football Australia look to attain gender parity for the game

23rd November 2021 - Football Australia reports increased deficit in last financial year

10th November 2021 - Football Australia announces creation of National Indigenous Advisory Group

2nd November 2021 - Expanded partnership offers wellbeing support for Football Australia process

23rd October 2021 - Football Australia finalises new independent complaints process

16th September 2021 - Football Australia invites participation in survey to help with future planning and development

6th September 2021 - New Football Australia board appointments see women in the majority

29th August 2021 - Football Australia supports increasing humanitarian refugee intake from Afghanistan

23rd August 2021 - Commonwealth Bank backs Football Australia in partnership to elevate women’s game

30th July 2021 - Football Australia’s domestic match calendar another step towards national second division

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

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.