Australia, insurance, car, home, live, holidays

Sacked:Alen Stajcic has been removed as Matildas coach just months out from the World Cup.Credit:PA

A spokesman for Hyundai Australia declined to comment on the situation when approached by theHerald on Thursday however a senior source suggested the company is far from pleased with the performance of FFA.

Hyundai's sponsorship expires next year.The company has been a commercial partner of the organisation since 2005and has been the naming rights partner of the A-League since its inception.

It is not yet known whether the handling of Stajcic's dismissal will influence Hyundai's decision to continue their sponsorship beyond 2020 though the governing body of Australian football will be working hard to appease sponsors in the wake of the fiasco.

TheHerald sought comment from FFA on Thursday but it is understood the governing body is in regular contact with the company.

Hyundai are not alone in their unhappiness,withseveral major stakeholders concerned with the performance of the FFA board. Meanwhile,the FFA has explained its reason for reaching out to Cricket Australia in their search for a new coach of the Matildas after appointing women's head coach Matthew Mott to the panel in charge of finding Stajcic's replacement.

The FFA announced a four-person panel including former Matilda Julie Murray,FFA head of national teams Luke Casserly,Darlene Harrison of the AIS and Mott that will oversee the recruitment for a new coach to be concluded next month.

The FFA will be undertaking the search for a coach of its top womens'national team without the assistance of a technical director,as a replacement for Eric Abrams - whoparted ways with the organisation in July - has yet to be appointed.

Despite raising a few eyebrows,the selection of Mott from Cricket Australia was partly made to provide guidance on traits that make Australian women's national teams successful.

"I definitely think that the mentality of Australians and the culture of Australian sport teams is not the same as teams from other countries,"Casserly said.

Similar to womens'football,cricket is experiencing a rapid rise in commercial and technical standards as the two codes have made significant strides to moving from amateur to professional games. The FFA says the parallel was another factor to seeking the assistance of Mott in their search for a new coach,instead of another football expert.

"If you look at where female cricket was as far as the transformation from part-time to professionalism,the success of the team,the profile of the team. The timelines of those progression of the cricket team[coincide with] the Matildas team ... there a lot of similarities in the growth of the two sports,"Casserly said.

License this article