“Scandalously under-resourced”: Plea for Aussie politicians to “have the balls” to invest in football
Andy Harper has called on assistance from above in order to give football in Australia the shot in the arm it deserves.
The Socceroos pulled off a major upset by beating Denmark 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday morning (AEDT) which saw them advance to the Round of 16 for just the second time in history.
It was a monumental moment for the sport in this country and Harper has implored politicians to get behind the cause and give the world game a significant boost, much like former Prime Minister John Howard did in helping launch the A-League almost two decades ago.
“You know what needs to change, it needs elected officials to start with to say ‘I’m going to sign a cheque’,” Harper said passionately on SEN Mornings.
“Much like John Howard did to get the A-League going. That’s the sort of leadership, believe it or not from one of the most conservative, blue-blood Prime Ministers Australia has ever had.
“It was John Howard who signed the cheque to unleash the A-League and that whole revolution. That sort of leadership is required from the very top.
“The single most important sport we have to do much better at is soccer.
“We have to do it as a country if we want to be globally competitive. So we need a political leader at the very top of the tree who says they don’t care about the lobby groups who are going to be bashing the door down saying, ‘You can’t give them this, what about us? Blah, blah, blah’. No!
“That’s what it’s going to require. Does anyone in our political situation have the balls to do that?”
SEN’s Andy Maher touched on the way the Socceroos have united Australia sporting fans, particularly with the scenes at Melbourne’s Federation Square over the last week.
“This world is divided more than it’s ever been and yet you look at the scenes at Fed Square this morning and at 2am you look at Twitter and everybody is on the same page,” Maher said.
“It’s because of a bunch of ragtag soccer players who wear the green and gold.
“This team unites Australia like no other sporting team.”
Harper agreed, further pleading with the powers at be of this country to show the sport of soccer some more respect.
According to the former NSL striker and Channel 10 broadcaster, the sport is “scandalously under-resourced” and desperately needs help so as to continue flourishing on the global stage.
“This is the thing, even if soccer is not their go-to sport, even if they didn’t grow up with it, even if they don’t like it particularly - although there are millions of people who do,” Harper continued.
“My point is, as soon as a politician sticks their head up and says we’re going to do this for soccer, the phone rings off the hook. The lobby groups start, this assassination campaign on the game has been going on for decades, it just has. This is not me bleating, it’s just a fact.
“How can it be otherwise when a sport is basically run by volunteers in Australia that the big volunteer movement in this country - club soccer and participant soccer - is still left on the periphery with no fields to play on.
“It’s ridiculous. Women don’t have change rooms to get dressed in. It’s scandalously under-resourced, scandalously.
“The single sport that keeps most people connected and active is soccer. You have to get out the begging bowl to get stuff funded.
“I don’t think they’re going to be need convincing. I just think they need someone at the top who is not going to be scared of taking on their powerful mates and sign a series of cheques to build this properly.”
The Socceroos will look to keep their dream run in Qatar alive when they take on Argentina and Lionel Messi in the Round of 16 on Sunday from 6am AEDT.