The Football Federation of Australia have announced today to the immediate dismissal of the head coach of the Matildas, Alen Stajcic. Stajcic was called into the meeting on Saturday morning at the FFA headquarters in Sydney. The FFA says that they uncovered workplace issues through an internal investigation, accusing Stajcic of overseeing a poor culture.
History
Stajcic has been the head coach of the Matildas since 2014, when he replaced Hesterine de Reus when she was fired following a players revolt. He has lead the team to the quarterfinals during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The following year they made it to the quarterfinals in the 2016 Summer Olympics down in Rio, where they lost to the host country Brazil in penalties. Since then he has lead them to win the 2017 Tournament of Nations, where they got their first win over the United States Women’s National Team. In 2018, they came in second, underneath the USWNT.
Rumours over Stajcic’s position comes days after the chairman of the FFA, Chris Nikou cancelled his scheduled trip to the UAE to watch the Socceroos in Syria, in an Asian Cup match on Tuesday.He was expected to attend the game but later cancelled his trip due to commitments in Australia.
Now that Stajcic is no longer head coach, eyes turn to the Federation as they work to find a new head coach 140 days before the start of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The Matildas are set to take on Argentina, South Korea and New Zealand in the 2019 Cup of Nations to prepare for the Wold Cup in June. During the World Cup, Australia will go against Brazil,Italy and Jamaica in their group stages. Before all that, in April, the Matildas will play against the US in a friendly.