O’Neill leaving Football

The Chairman of Football Federation Australia, Mr Frank Lowy, announced today that John O’Neill would not seek reappointment as Chief Executive when his contract expires in March 2007.

Mr Lowy said Mr O’Neill had made his decision to consider other career opportunities and for family reasons.

“John established the foundation for “New Football” and he’s achieved tremendous success during the past three years,” Mr Lowy said.

“John and I discussed his future in a spirit of friendship and mutual regard.

“I expected him to sign a new contract for the next four years but he has indicated his need for a change of direction, which I respect.

“We now have six months to put in place an orderly transition and we will continue to benefit from John’s leadership until March ’07.”

Mr O’Neill described his decision as “bittersweet.”

“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 said.

“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.

“An additional consideration is the fact that I’ve been at the top level of sports administration for 12 years now, and I’d like to think about what is possible in other fields of endeavour.”

Mr Lowy said he had asked Mr O’Neill to consider an ongoing role with “New Football” after next March.

“I would like to think that John’s expertise and experience won’t be lost to us entirely, and he has indicated that he is happy to continue to make a contribution to the game in some form,” he said.

“What form that will take will be discussed between John and me in due course.”