Football Australia records net loss of $15.3 million for 2025, nearly double the previous record deficit, prompting a major restructuring that will cut over 20% of staff.
Financial Performance
Revenue reached an all-time high of approximately $139.45 million to $140 million. However, this was offset by increased expenses.
Employee and team benefit expenses rose to $63.13 million, up from $49.82 million in the prior year, with total wages and salaries reported at $53.25 million. FA also recorded $6 million in anticipated unrecoverable debts, $3 million in legal settlements, and $3 million in business transformation costs following executive departures.
Excluding these abnormal costs, the deficit would have been $3.11 million.
Staff Reduction
CEO Martin Kugeler announced a "significant reset and restructure" of the organization, involving a reduction of over 20% of staff. Kugeler stated the cuts would not affect the men's (Socceroos) or women's (Matildas) senior national teams.
Board Member Payment
The financial report details a payment of $810,000 to former board director Jaclyn Lee-Joe for services related to the PlayFootball registration system. Lee-Joe resigned from the board in May 2025. Of the total, $180,000 was paid in 2025, with remaining payments scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
Dispute Resolution
FA and the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) settled a long-running dispute for $1 million. The disagreements involved profit-sharing from product betting fees, referee costs, and FA's entitlement on inbound transfer fees for A-League clubs. The settlement agreement also permits FA’s email database users to add A-League club preferences for targeted marketing.