As the Matildas saga enters its sixth day, frustration continues to mount over the decision to terminate Alen Stajcic.
Naturally when questions such as these are left unanswered rumours, allegations and innuendo begin to file in, plotting football stakeholders against one-another before long a civil war inevitably erupts.
Bonita Mersiades is no stranger to these kinds of things.
The founder and editor of Football Today has dealt with everyone from Football Federation Australia to FIFA and believes this decision falls under the umbrella of poor governance within the game.
“The bigger picture here, and I hate to say this, is around the governance of football in this country,” Mersiades told Evenings on FNR.
“If there were issues many have known about for some time where was their moral responsibility not to have raised this beforehand.
“If I could draw a parallel it would be in my dealings with the corruption at FIFA.
“I could have sat back in my comfortable job and never said or done anything but that never would have changed football.
“If Stajcic was ‘ultimately responsible’ then so are many other people.”
New information continues to be released but little has been said by the FFA, who many including Mersiades hold accountable after the election of the new board promised greater transparency.
Frustration has also been levelled at those ‘in the know’ who have since revealed they had been aware of the issues identified in the OurWatch survey.
In addition, Mersiades highlights there had always been professionals around the Matildas camp throughout tournaments such as the most recent Asian Cup, who she believes should have reported any issues then.
“What we all want is some transparency around this decision,” Mersiades said.
“Were these people at these tournaments sleeping on the job?
“It’s not good enough to say, ‘If only you knew what I knew’ and keeping the rest of us in the dark.
“If issues were that serious it would have gone to the police.”
The Matildas playing squad have allegedly made a pact to win this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup for former coach Alen Stajcic.
