Also waz don't forget epl style, those div one clubs were never franchises. I honestly doubt FIFA via a normalisation committee will defranchisenthe league. They're not interested in that stuff at all.

It will happen naturally. They are franchises because the FFA owns their intellectual property and they compete in the league on license with the FFA. An independent league severs that legal connection to the FFA. Thereafter the process is as simple as the independent league relinquishing its ownership of the licenses and this is where the EPL model kicks in - EPL clubs are all equal shareholders in the EPL itself. The EPL has 20 shareholders, all that changes is 3 shares change hand after each season. It's straightforward to presume that the owners of the independent aleague will implement this model. The clubs won't have gone to all the trouble of an independent league to turn around and have it owned by a 3rd party.

If you read a brief history of the EPL breakaway you will notice that what is happening at the moment here is almost a carbon copy.

@ Coverdale

The franchise model served its purpose and it's going one way or another. It has to go before p/r can come in anyway - it's not actually a big deal in reality, just more Few Dom for the clubs.

Unfortunately for your scenario the Normalisation Committee takes over the role of the Board and FIFA's "rules" give the Board the right to decide whether to delegate their authority to a subordinate League or not.  If they don't delegate their authority to the League then FIFA would see the A-League as a rogue body if the owners acted as you describe.  The establishment of the A-League as a subordinate self managed entity will require the Normalisation Committee to agree that it is in the best interest of football and to negotiate that through the process of establishing a new constitution with all the stakeholders.  FIFA's "democratic principles" do not endorse one stakeholder acting unilaterally.

We're getting an independent and open league structure, it's just a question of whether it's 2 or 100 steps and people's heads in between.

@ GyFox

You interpret my comments the wrong way, I never said anything about unilateral or rouge activity.

FIFAs sole focus is the players and their clubs, it's in their constitution. It's why Lowy is so offside with this whole thing and frustratingly, it's why FIFA don't recognise fans as stakeholders ... we are mere accessories unlike the players.

FIFA expects the administrators of the game (in this case the FFA and the State Feds) to work on behalf of the players/clubs and not the other way around so if players and clubs agree they would like a new competition - providing they recognise FIFA as their governing body - it goes ahead. As someone else posted earlier, the situation is almost identical to the lead up to the formation of the EPL. You can guarantee CFG are guiding the clubs down a similar path as well

And these conversations won't come as a surprise to the AFC - the clubs/PFA are well advanced in these discussions no doubt, it's a question of how it comes about not if now

Actually your scenario that on day 1 the clubs could declare that the A-League would become an independent league is describing a unilateral decision by the clubs that they have no right under the FIFA system, the FFA Constitution or their participation agreements to make.  You are describing an action that could lead to the A-League being viewed as a rogue body.  It would be the very antithesis of the democratic processes that FIFA seeks to get all MA's to adopt.  Parts of football can't just decide what they are going to do and expect that their decisions be rubber stamped by the people in positions of authority.  FIFA establishes a system of authority within football and expects that people accept it and work within the system.  A Normalisation Committee makes absolutely no difference to the respective roles, rights and obligations of the various bodies and stakeholders it just changes the people in some of the seats.  The process of getting the A-League to be delegated authority to operate as a subordinate self managed League will be identical to what it is now.  Convince the NC that it is the right thing for the whole of football.  The NC will of course be listening to the rest of the stakeholders assessing the effect of such a decision on the optimum operation of Australian football because that is the role of the Executive Committee in the FIFA system.

@ Gyfox

Just because you say I said/meant something doesn't actually make it true, you're twisting what I wrote and then arguing with me over something that's in your head not mine.

I don't think there's much point in carrying on any discussion on that basis. Maybe we come back to this another day

Source?  ;)

I would expect a subordinate self managing League operating under delegation within the regulations written and approved by the Board/Normalisation Committee/ replacement Board depending on when it happens.

"An open League structure".  I have often wondered what people mean by the term they use.  "Full pyramid" is another one that comes to mind.  

I would expect that we end up with a structure like the other countries of similar land area to ours.  Forgetting USA /Canada, for obvious reasons, there seems to a few common features.  The main one is that the upper pyramid in which p/r happens is limited to the professional leagues with clubs moving into the lower professional league by application when a vacancy occurs due to a club failure or by expansion.  Other than that p/r occurs within regional leagues.  Countries that don't have the tyranny of distance seem to a have more complete pyramid system.

BLOCK, Been Around (2017) "Knowing when you're cooked" in Journal of Basic Observation and Life Skills, pp.1-100, Routlege London or some other shithole with hipsters

I'd prefer the set-up of the new congress be tipped in favour of the state federations if neutrality in voting is impossible. Seems to be the best option to distribute funds throughout the game. Second best option is the HAL clubs and god help us if the NPL clubs led by that SM Hellas Greek get the Guernsey which has a snow flake chance in hell in happening anyway.

@ paulc

The States and their clubs raise about $350m in funds each year through registration fees, the HAL raises about $75m - which way are we distributing funds again?

Given the quantity of clubs they are nevertheless poor and still based on a volunteer system. The only (most) money available to facilitate national budgets including 6 tiers of national teams is through TV money.

So the AL isnt working and contributing to a conducive footballing system. 

Welcome paulc. 

Funny how you spin it. The HAL through TV rights provides a lot of the money for FFA to fund all the national teams so that part is working. Contrary to before the HAL period.