9 in total according to Vince Rugari ,  8 man panel plus Independent chairperson

The working group will include four representatives of the state federations, two from the A-League clubs, one from Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) and one FFA board member.

They will decide who is the chairperson. FIFA, however, has instructed that the person must have a strong track record in legal and governance issues, preferably in sport, and experience in mediation and negotiation.

If the group cannot settle on a chairperson, FIFA will make the appointment. It will be the chair’s responsibility to ensure the working group fulfils its mandate: to determine a new structure for the FFA congress that includes a ‘‘broader and more balanced’’ representation of stakeholders, and bring the governing body in line with FIFA’s statutes.

I've heard Rugari on FNR, and to say he's a bit wet behind the ears is an understatement. He's also let it slip a few too many times the disdain he has for the club factions.

I'll wait until a journalist with runs on the board reports on this one.

Who picks the 4 Feds ?

I predict at the end of the day, when FIFA hands down it's final verdict, there will be a few that will be mighty pissed off.

It seems to me it's not working because you're not getting your own way.

You wanted FIFA so cop it like a good boy. Goes for most here lol.

How about Tony Pignata as chair? Seems perfect to me.

Bias towards A-League clubs?

how about Smithies ?

The man who is being paid money to support and promote a bid that is playing out of 3 different stadiums, representing 3 different areas that pretty much have nothing in common.
Fuck that, I wouldn't want people like him anywhere near any position in football.

Archie Fraser??

Although I'd love to see him given another crack at running the league or the FFA without a puppet master over his shoulder.

good enough for me

I think Pignata is smarter than that.
Actually think he is a good candidate being mentioned here.
He's a shrewd businessmen with some integrity way ahead of the likes of Lowy's Gallop.

Will this see a spike in crowds then?

"the person must have a strong track record in legal and governance issues, preferably in sport, and experience in mediation and negotiation"

Does a degree in finance and banking give the required skills?

The expansion bid and being the chair of this committee  are two seperate things. Foz hates the FFA for their mismanagement of the game and lack of direction so he wont be in their favour just because they were to accept his expansion bid. He is smart enough to know one new team in the a league wont magically fix all the problems in the game.  I personally think he has more integrity than that in any case, as Aus football as a whole is genuinely his first concern.

His vision of whats best for Aus football may vary (as it does from person to person), and you may not like him as a public figure. But all I am saying is his first priority always has and always will be Aus football.

Pignata is also a good shout too

One out of left field:

John Howard

So because he went down the path of gaining a degree, finance/banking makes him not a viable candidate ? yet his time after being involved in football clubs is to be ignored - don't you think after those years involved in our football he really got to see what the issues are top to bottom in our game ?
I'm sure he has dealt with brilliant "legals" for advise and "governance" I expect he gets that and he's been involved in sport.
Mediation/negottiation, well look what he did at SFC for starters.
His resume isn't bad to me and quoting "management stability", rated in Top 21 CEO's 2017 :

an Australian football administrator and former Chief Executive of Sydney FC in the Australian A-League.^[1] His previous positions include Chief Executive of Football Federation Victoria and inaugural Chief Executive of Wellington Phoenix FC in the A-League from 2007 to 2010. Prior to working in sport, Pignata worked in the banking industry, and he spent a brief time in telecommunications.

Pignata's leadership of Wellington Phoenix helped to bring much-needed credibility to football in New Zealand. Amongst other things, he was responsible for bringing out LA Galaxy with David Beckham resulting in a then record Football crowd of 31,853.^[2] In 2009/10, he was CEO when Wellington Phoenix made the A-League Finals Series (playoffs) going within one game of making the 2009/10 Grand Final.

In May 2012, he was appointed Chief Executive of Sydney FC at a time when the club desperately needed stability in its management.

He was instrumental in bringing Italian football star Alessandro del Piero to the club for two seasons which helped increased membership, merchandise sales, sponsorship and TV viewership for Sydney FC and the A-League overall. In 2014, the club announced^[3] that its finances had turned around from a deficit of $7.2m to almost break-even under Pignata's leadership.

In the 2016/17 A-League season, Sydney FC were crowned Premiers ^[4] after 20 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss culminating in 66 points for the regular season. They went on to win the A-League Grand Final^[5] in the equivalent of the play-off series against Melbourne Victory on 7 May 2017.

Sydney FC has also been named Club of the Year ^[6] by the Football Media Association for three consecutive years from 2014/15 to 2016/17.

Pignata is a popular figure with media and fans, and was named by the Australian Financial Review ^[7] in 2017 as one of Australia's top 21 CEOs. He is active on Twitter. He announced his resignation ^[8] from Sydney FC three days after the 2017 A-League grand final win.

As I've said - he's got the experience.

This working group is a dispute resolution process. A legal background is definitely an advantage to someone with a finance or administration background.

I can't knock his experience and he obviously has the runs on the board but every time I hear him speak on fnr radio on the football bosses show he doesn't fill me with any confidence as other CEO's do. Maybe he is a doer rather than a talker.

All I'm basically saying is that I wouldn't want someone like him to be in that position for the very reason he is behind that bid.
I could bet my life on it that if he had no involvement he would be slamming that idea like people who love football. 
I used to think he loves and wants what's best for football in this country, however once he got behind this bid I really have to question his motives. 
You have to have rocks in your head if you prefer a club playing in Kogorah, Sutherland, and Wollongong over stand alone bids.
But like I said he's being paid and he's putting himself first and football second.
I truly don't think he is that stupid to think this 3 stadium 3 location club would work in the long run, which is why I've lost any trust I ever had in him. 

I don't doubt Foster's passion for the game for one second.

But don't you agree that it's odd he'd be behind that bid considering all the football knowledge he has, not to mention his passion for football?
I mean other then the fact you've been hired to promote the bid by the owners why else would you think such a silly bid is good for the A-league?

If an investor said they had 300 million to invest in our game I'd love to be a part of that. If there were problems with the bid I'd see more opportunity in addressing them from inside instead of shouting from the sideline.

Personally I think they have no chance of bridging the regions of Wollongong and Sutherland. If it were possible then there'd already be a club doing it - Sydney FC. But it's their money so wtf would I care? They'll get their club, they'll play a couple of seasons and the data will show they were either right or wrong. Not our problem.

So it's okay to support an idea when in the back of your head you know it won't work?
And you can claim to love football and want what's best for it. If they have $300 million to spend then they should be better advised to spend it in the right region and in one region. 
You say if it doesn't work it isn't our problem. I think if we have another case of the wrong expansion clubs being chosen like in the past with GCU and NQF then that could really be damaging to the game in this country. 
We really need to get expansion right 100% this time, we can't afford to fuck it up again. 
Anyways that's my take on it but personally I wouldn't get behind that bid at all.

If a bid's problem is it needs to strategically reposition itself while it's capitalised to the tune of hundreds of millions..... fuck me that's a problem I want in my life.

As a true football person with some form of power behind you in the media, Craige should be doing that now and getting the bid to settle on one location. 
Fact of the matter is he's not doing so, and instead has come out publicly promoting and talking up a bid that clearly doesn't understand football on be fucking bit.
Clive Palmer is the best example of someone who had a shit load of money but didn't do well because of his shit choices and then he got that turned off he simply left. 
Hypothetically if Craige sticks with this bid and convinces the owners to represent one area then obviously that would be fine, but that simply isn't the case. 
Anyways before we derail onto expansion topics my point was if he can't see this isn't a good idea then I wouldn't want someone like him as the had of the board. I mean over flops like Lowy and Gallop I'd take him anyday of the week but overall I wound go anywhere near him for that role. 

Francis Awaritefe, Socceroo, player in the NSL for a while MV director of Football, and for a while PFA director and has an honours degree in law I think [in 2015]

Les Murray was involved too. Between he and Foster that's two pretty damn devoted football people.

Lawrie McKinna?

I think the requirements of the independent chair that will trip most candidates up is not experience in governance and the law, most business people operating at Director level will tick those boxes well enough ... I think the requirement around mediation and negotiation skills will trip most people up, these are relatively unique skills that might be difficult to prove for many high-profile football names below.