Ghost of Stajcic haunts Matildas as pressure mounts on FFA board

Montpellier: The ghost of Alen Stajcic haunts the Matildas and it's not just the players whose World Cup dreams could be shattered by their result against Brazil in the early hours of Friday morning.

Newly appointed FFA chairman Chris Nikou, under-pressure FFA chief executive David Gallop, Women's Football boss Emma Highwood, controversial board member Heather Reid and a host of other executives are sweating on the outcome after their decision to sack Stajcic five months out from the World Cup plunged the Matildas into a crisis which now threatens to derail their tournament.

If Australia lose to Brazil it will make it very difficult to qualify for the knockout stage. They would need to thump Jamaica in the last match and hope results elsewhere allow them to sneak into the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams in the 24-team competition.

But then they may have to face the hosts, France, and a loss to the tournament favourites would place Gallop, Nikou and the administration under even more pressure.

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For several months now there has been pressure building on Gallop as the murkiness surrounding Stajcic's dismissal refuses to clear.

The clamour for resignations and dismissals is growing louder as the turmoil surrounding the team, its performance and the way the board refuses to clarify the Stajcic situation continues.

Nikou only succeeded Steven Lowy last November, but he has failed to categorically say why the former coach was axed, the board only providing veiled comments and muffled hints about unsatisfactory performance.

There are also now questions being raised about the compliance process and the manner in which the process was conducted, with Gallop, as the CEO, being held as the man who ultimately had charge of the whole issue.

Reid, who was only elected onto the board some six months ago, issued a statement last month in which she apologised to Stajcic "for the damage, distress and hurt" that she had caused the former Matildas boss in the aftermath of his dismissal, and for potentially causing "serious damage to Mr Stajcics reputation, both in Australia and internationally".

Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has described Reid's board position as untenable, and there has been unease about her presence in France, where she travelled at her own expense for a FIFA women's football conference.

The FFA earlier this week issued a statement saying Reid had paid her own way to Paris and was not being funded by them.

Asked about the "optics" of such a trip, another board member said he realised Reid's appearance in France was a bad look given the controversy around her and the Matildas, but said: "How can we stop someone who is paying for their own trip?"