Australia, insurance, car, home, live, holidays

South Melbourne fans with Greek flags at the an Ericsson Cup grand final against Carlton at Olympic Park.Credit:Ken Irwin

The draft,titled “FFA Inclusivity Principles for Club Identity” (ICPI) and obtained byThe Age and SMH,comes after the FFA said it would review the National Club Identity Policy (NCIP),which was introduced in 2014 to much controversy and derision from the Australian soccer community.

The NCIP banned all Australian soccer clubs from using names,colours,or symbols with ethnic,national,political,racial or religious motifs.

The draft policy encourages clubs to “identify themselves in an all-embracing and inclusive manner that is welcoming to all participants in preference to using monoculture branding which may be viewed as exclusionary”.

However,the draft states the ICPI is only a guide and “are not intended to be enforceable,strict regulations",meaning clubs can ignore the policy if they see fit.

It goes on:“Club names should reflect the local geographical region that they represent and do so in a way that is welcoming to people from all cultural backgrounds,” it reads.

“Clubs may be more attractive to a broader range of participants if their name is in English rather than a foreign language;and of broad appeal rather than solely associated with a particular national,political,ethnic or religious group.

"However,FFA acknowledges the desire of clubs to respectfully recognise their heritage and the specific communities that were instrumental in establishing and developing such clubs."

Under the new policy Melbourne Knights could call themselves their traditional name of Melbourne Croatia,or South Melbourne could call themselves South Melbourne Hellas,for example. Similarly,Sydney United 58 FC could go by Sydney Croatia.

They would also be free to use Croatian or Greek flags,symbols or figures on their jerseys and logos.

The FFA and its new board said it would review the policy in September 2018,and started accepting public submissions in November 2018.

The NCIP was widely criticised by clubs and fans as discriminatory,and it led to the Melbourne Knights being banned from having the Melbourne Croatia social club as their FFA Cup shirt sponsor,and also meant Avondale FC had to put black tape over an Italian flag on the back of their shirts in the same competition.

“The objective of the NCIP is to safeguard the inclusivity of football whilst also enabling appropriate recognition of the rich history of many long-standing football clubs,” FFA chief executive David Gallop said at the time the review was announced.

“FFA management has at various stages in recent times debated the effectiveness of the NCIP.

"This has been prompted by community sentiment along with experience arising from its application at competition-level,including at the FFA Cup,National Premier Leagues and grassroots level."

The policy is expected to be accepted at the next FFA board meeting. FFA has been contacted for comment.

License this article