Brisbane Roar made a brave move today in sacking Frank Farina as the coach of the A-League football (soccer) team. On Saturday morning, Farina was charged for the second time for drink driving. Farina was one of Australia’s greatest players and I believe a very good coach. Were the Roar a little bit harsh in ripping up his contract?
I don’t think so. While I genuinely feel sorry for Farina, the seriousness of the action taken against him shows how much responsibility coaches have in their example to their players and the community. Other football codes, of which Rugby League particularly comes to mind, would do well to take note of the swift and serious consequences of stupidity – only then will they have any chance of changing their seedy culture.
Here’s what Roar Chairman, Chris Bombolas, had to say:
“I acknowledge Frank’s contribution to the club but we can not excuse or condone his behaviour off the field […] It is simply not in step with we expect of our players or our coaching staff, or what the community expects […] The message from our board is very clear: the community and our fans expect a professional standard of conduct and behaviour and so do we.”
PS – if you stumbled here via google, I used to think that “soccer was life, and the rest just details” – that’s a bit silly, life is all about Jesus.