FA decision on First Matildas has caused ‘distress and trauma’, say former players | OneFootball

A letter signed by more than 60 former Matildas has implored Football Australia to explain last week’s decision to recognise a 1975 team recruited largely from a Sydney club side as the “First Matildas”, saying the decision has caused “real distress and trauma”.

Last week’s announcement awarded a 1975 team that travelled to Hong Kong for an international tournament and wore Australian colours the title of First Matildas, after a review from a working group involving FA chair Anter Isaac, deputy chair Jaclyn Lee-Joe and director Spiro Pappas.

Julie Dolan, the former player who had until last week been known as the Matildas’ first captain – based on recognition of a 1979 team – described the decision as “nothing short of farcical”. She was also a member of the 1975 team as a 14-year-old.

The letter, which Guardian Australia has seen, said “it is essential to acknowledge the pioneering 1975 squad and their contribution” but the decision left “many puzzled, hurt, and questioning the process of reviewing and reinterpreting the Matildas history, and the implications of implementing it”.

“We wish to convey the real distress and trauma being experienced by several Matildas alumni as a result of the decision, how it was made, and how it was communicated by FA,” it stated.

The six-page letter includes 25 questions for FA about the decision, grouped under governance (process), criteria (substance) and implementation, and requests a response by Thursday.

FA originally referenced four external experts with whom its internal working group had worked, but updated their release the following day to remove all but academic and author Dr. Kevin Tallec Marston and Omar Ongaro.

Ongaro, former deputy chair of the Fifa dispute resolution chamber and football regulatory director, told Guardian Australia he was not involved in any specific decision.

The Zurich resident said he was asked to sit on “a task force in Australia looking at the criteria for deciding whether historical teams/players qualify as representative/national team or not.”

“My involvement was limited to providing my personal, technical feedback on the relevant criteria. In particular, I was not involved in any specific decision. There is nothing else I could add.”

FA’s release said their internal working group “worked closely with esteemed external experts to develop robust criteria ensuring the appropriate acknowledgment of historic national teams and their representatives”.

“Their collective expertise provided invaluable insights into the criteria development process,” the released stated.

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