“You’re seeing the Matildas,who played Brazil recently - they broke record numbers for broadcast in the last window,and even if we go back to the Olympics earlier this year,they were breaking broadcast numbers. There’s matches against the United States ... we are expecting to break more records.
“What that illustrates is a rising brand that’s becoming more and more relevant every time they play. I think we’re in a great position,our vision’s been brought to life,we’ve got lots of areas in the game that are firing,and that’s what we need. Therefore,if doomsday happens and we were not qualified for Qatar 2022,there are other parts of the game that will support growth.”
FA held its AGM on Tuesday,which saw Chris Nikou re-elected as chairman and Carla Wilshire become his deputy. The organisation has also posted an $11.8 million surplus for 2020-21 - $10.2 million of which comes from the unbundling of the A-Leagues. It continues an impressive financial recovery for FA,which inked a $100 million broadcast deal with Channel Ten this year and has signed up several major sponsors in recent months,including the Commonwealth Bank,the Matildas’ new naming-rights partner.
“Unbundling creates a new environment and we want each part of the ecosystem to be the best it can,” Nikou said. “Our obligation now is to do that - let the clubs run the elite competition,men and women,while we focus on community,grassroots,pathways,national teams. I think that type of focus means there should be more success stories down the track.”
As for the Socceroos,they will learn on Saturday morning (AEDT) exactly what the intercontinental play-off path to Qatar looks like when FIFA conducts its draw in Zurich. If they finish third in Group B,and then beat the other third-placed team in Group A,they will face a team from South America,Oceania,or North and Central America in a sudden-death single-leg match at a neutral venue.
Ordinarily,the play-off matches would be played home and away over two legs,but FIFA last week confirmed it was condensing its schedule due to the pandemic.
Johnson is confident it won’t come to that,and believes Australia will beat Vietnam (home) - the venue for which FA will confirm in the coming weeks - and Oman (away) in the next international window in late January.
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“We’re expecting six points for those matches,” he said. “Japan and Saudi will also play against each other during that window,so if we get six points,there will be movement,and that sets up a real interesting March window when we play Japan here and Saudi away. So I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about at this point,I think we’ve got every chance of going through directly,and if we don’t,we will be playing in June in play-offs,which we’re confident we can do as we did in the last qualifiers in 2018.
“If we were not to qualify,the game would be in a strong financial position,so there’s nothing to worry about. But we shouldn’t be disheartened at this point.”
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