2003 Report of the Independent Soccer Review Committee
The Independent Soccer Review Committee published a report in 2003 on the governance of soccer in Australia popularly called the Crawford Report. The committee was announced by the then Minister for Sport Rod Kemp and the Australian Parliament after extensive media publicity surrounding alleged mismanagement and corruption in the previous governing body, Soccer Australia. The impetus for reform was more acute after the public had witnessed the spectacle of the 2002 FIFA World Cup which contrasted with the near-bankrupt state of the local game. Precursor. A series of incidents highlighted the  critical state of Soccer in Australia: Committee. "(taken from the published report)." Objectives. The stated objectives of the review were published as follows: Outcomes. Despite initial attempts to scuttle the reform process, the majority of reforms and recommendations have been implemented by the National and State Football Associations. In particular, resistance to reforms at the National level were largely destroyed by the threat of the Australian Sports Commission to withhold funding to Soccer Australia. Restructuring of the governance of the Associations has led to a more democratic approach and the enfranchisement of groups not previously represented (e.g. referees, women's  players, etc.). In more substantial terms, it led to the resignation of the Soccer Australia board en masse. The replacement body, the Football Federation of Australia was established with a board led by Frank Lowy. The decision to establish a new governing body was made after the then Australian Soccer Association, now Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy stated that the state of the existing governing body was not repairable and that there was no reasonable prospects of Soccer Australia ever being in a state to be reconstituted. The Frank Lowy led board completely replaced the organisation with a new  one called Football Federation Australia It has achieved financial stability. It has acquired high profile sponsors including Foxtel and Hyundai. The relaunched domestic competition (the Hyundai A-League) can be seen as a by-product of the recommendations of the Independent Soccer Review Committee's report to change the form and organisation of domestic competition within Australia. Lowy controlled the A-League and Football Federation Australia until 2018. Having ensured his son Steven Lowy would take over the role in 2015 following his term limit enforced exit, Steven quit after a protracted conflict which culminated in the Lowy family and  their supporters failing to stop the movement to split the A-League into a English Premier League style structure independent from the federation, that had one stage caused FIFA to threaten a normalisation committee.