Post by gialloblu on Aug 29, 2006 20:59:55 GMT 10
Got this from the Guardian (Britain), a bit more detail:
O'Neill to step down as FFA chief executive
(adds details, byline)
By Ed Osmond
SYDNEY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - John O'Neill is to step down as chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA) in March after three years in charge.
O'Neill, former head of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), has chosen not to stay on when his contract ends to consider other career opportunities and for family reasons.
"It's been fantastic and I've had an absolute ball," O'Neill told a news conference on Tuesday. "We have achieved a lot and laid fantastic foundations but the time is right for me to move on to other things.
"On the one hand, my involvement with football has been an exhilarating ride and while we've achieved so much, the potential to take the game even further is enormous," he added.
"But with our rapid progress has come an incredibly intensive and demanding workload and that creates a lot of pressure on personal time and family life."
O'Neill, 55, joined the FFA after leaving the chief executive post at the ARU in 2003 and was seen as key to the revival of soccer's fortunes in rugby-mad Australia.
TREMENDOUS SUCCESS
He oversaw the appointment of Dutchman Guus Hiddink to the national coaching post in 2005 and the Socceroos went on to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. They reached the second round of the finals in Germany this year, losing 1-0 by eventual champions Italy.
O'Neill was also instrumental in the establishment of the domestic A-League competition, which opened its second season amid much fanfare last weekend, and in Australia's switch to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
"It is not good news but John has achieved tremendous success in the last three years," FFA chairman Frank Lowy said. "I expected him to sign for another four years but he has decided to move in a new direction."
Lowy said he would not be rushed into finding O'Neill's successor or the next Socceroos coach to take over from interim manager Graham Arnold who has led the team into next year's Asian Cup finals.
"I would have liked to have had an international coach in position by now," he said. "But there is no rush or urgency because Graham is doing a good job and we don't need to panic."
SPORTING HIGHLIGHTS
O'Neill picked out qualifying for the World Cup and the matches in Germany against Japan, Brazil, Croatia and Italy as the sporting highlights of his reign, but said that taking Australia into the AFC was perhaps his most important achievement.
O'Neill said he had an open mind about what to do next and denied that he had already discussed a return to rugby.
"I haven't had any approaches from anyone in rugby," he said. "This is just a fork in the road for me and I will consider all my options."
O'Neill said he would continue to work hard for the FFA over the next six months.
"It will be business as usual until March," he said. "The foundations are in place for the continued growth and success of Australian football."
I'm pretty worried about this, not about O'Neill in particular (although I agree that he's done a fantastic job), but the fact that the key personnel that did so much to transform Aussie football (Hiddink and now O'Neill) are leaving, which opens up a lot of uncertainty. Let's face it, their successors will probaly be a bit of a let down, if for no other reason than that Hiddink and O'Neill did such a good job.
I agree that with Lowy that he doesn't want to rush out and get the first vaguely qualified CEO and national team manager, but I don't want him to sit on his hands either. A new CEO must be in place when O'Neill finishes in March, and a new (suitable) national team manager (or even technical director, for fear of sounding like Craig Foster) must be appointed ASAP. I thought a few things about the Socceroos' performance, and by extension Arnold's management after the Kuwait game, but "a good job" wasn't one of them.
O'Neill to step down as FFA chief executive
(adds details, byline)
By Ed Osmond
SYDNEY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - John O'Neill is to step down as chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA) in March after three years in charge.
O'Neill, former head of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), has chosen not to stay on when his contract ends to consider other career opportunities and for family reasons.
"It's been fantastic and I've had an absolute ball," O'Neill told a news conference on Tuesday. "We have achieved a lot and laid fantastic foundations but the time is right for me to move on to other things.
"On the one hand, my involvement with football has been an exhilarating ride and while we've achieved so much, the potential to take the game even further is enormous," he added.
"But with our rapid progress has come an incredibly intensive and demanding workload and that creates a lot of pressure on personal time and family life."
O'Neill, 55, joined the FFA after leaving the chief executive post at the ARU in 2003 and was seen as key to the revival of soccer's fortunes in rugby-mad Australia.
TREMENDOUS SUCCESS
He oversaw the appointment of Dutchman Guus Hiddink to the national coaching post in 2005 and the Socceroos went on to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. They reached the second round of the finals in Germany this year, losing 1-0 by eventual champions Italy.
O'Neill was also instrumental in the establishment of the domestic A-League competition, which opened its second season amid much fanfare last weekend, and in Australia's switch to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
"It is not good news but John has achieved tremendous success in the last three years," FFA chairman Frank Lowy said. "I expected him to sign for another four years but he has decided to move in a new direction."
Lowy said he would not be rushed into finding O'Neill's successor or the next Socceroos coach to take over from interim manager Graham Arnold who has led the team into next year's Asian Cup finals.
"I would have liked to have had an international coach in position by now," he said. "But there is no rush or urgency because Graham is doing a good job and we don't need to panic."
SPORTING HIGHLIGHTS
O'Neill picked out qualifying for the World Cup and the matches in Germany against Japan, Brazil, Croatia and Italy as the sporting highlights of his reign, but said that taking Australia into the AFC was perhaps his most important achievement.
O'Neill said he had an open mind about what to do next and denied that he had already discussed a return to rugby.
"I haven't had any approaches from anyone in rugby," he said. "This is just a fork in the road for me and I will consider all my options."
O'Neill said he would continue to work hard for the FFA over the next six months.
"It will be business as usual until March," he said. "The foundations are in place for the continued growth and success of Australian football."
I'm pretty worried about this, not about O'Neill in particular (although I agree that he's done a fantastic job), but the fact that the key personnel that did so much to transform Aussie football (Hiddink and now O'Neill) are leaving, which opens up a lot of uncertainty. Let's face it, their successors will probaly be a bit of a let down, if for no other reason than that Hiddink and O'Neill did such a good job.
I agree that with Lowy that he doesn't want to rush out and get the first vaguely qualified CEO and national team manager, but I don't want him to sit on his hands either. A new CEO must be in place when O'Neill finishes in March, and a new (suitable) national team manager (or even technical director, for fear of sounding like Craig Foster) must be appointed ASAP. I thought a few things about the Socceroos' performance, and by extension Arnold's management after the Kuwait game, but "a good job" wasn't one of them.