Great expectations ... Lowy with Sepp Blatter at the launch of Australia's unsuccessful World Cup bid. Credit:AFP So how bad are things? A-League clubs are losing $25 million a season, Football Federation Australia has just reported a $5.6m loss, chief executive Ben Buckley is getting hammered from all quarters for a lacklustre performance, A-League crowds and ratings are down, and there are big doubts about the size of the next, all-important, TV deal. But things can't be all bad, with Nathan Tinkler approaching the FFA with a $25m offer to help underwrite the league. Football in crisis? Lowy admits times are tough, but he insists there is an impressive flipside to the progress made since he was installed in 2003. ''The only thing not where I'd like it to be in the A-League but the rest of the game is doing very well,'' he maintains. ''People talk about governance. We have an independent board not influenced by anyone else, with no sectional interest, no conflict of interest. ''The financials. We started with nothing, and today we are an $80m business. We have a national team that was 84th when we started, now we are top 20. We have hosted the Asian Cup for women, now we're going to host the [men's] Asian Cup in 2015. We now have unprecedented co-operation with the states. You will see the results because we will be able to introduce a uniform code throughout Australia from the children to the senior game. We have that set up and financed. We will have an FFA Cup in the near future. These are all achievements, aren't they? If we get the A-League right, I'd give us a nine out of 10.''

So if the game is going well, why hasn't the FFA sold that message? Why is the gloom descending? ''You're right there,'' Lowy says. ''What I've just told you should be known. We should be a lot better at celebrating our success, and we will be.'' That's why Lowy is back on the front foot. Sifting through the burning issues with the idea of drawing a line under some of the more damaging commentary, and restoring confidence in the game. Here goes. On the World Cup voting process... ''There is an explanation required to the country, and this could be the forum for it. We took precautions before we started on who will be in the competition. China was not in, and that was one of the conditions for moving forward. Had they been in, we would have had second thoughts. So we looked at the competition in Asia - Japan and [South] Korea had just had it, and Qatar was not on the scene. We believed it would be a competition between Australia and America, and they believed it would be a contest between America and Australia. Well, Qatar just popped up. Not many people thought they would succeed. But the unexpected happened. It was a flawed process. Having two World Cups on the market at the same time gave the opportunity for people to talk to each other, and it was no longer a level playing field. Some national governments have taken it out of the football federations, and they used all their resources to get there. Did we make mistakes? Yes. But I could have stood on my head for 24 months and we still wouldn't have got it. What we didn't realise was the aspect of lifting it so high above the game [by making it a quasi-government bid]. By the time we realised that it was too late. Out of the 44 votes for the two Worlds Cups, Australia, England and America got four votes. So we were in very good company.'' On the interference campaign run by Andrew Demetriou...

''They [AFL] obviously thought they had an obligation to get the best out of it [the bid]. I don't hold any grudges. I was upset at the time but it was just a sideshow.'' On claims the FFA took its eye off the ball during the two-year bidding process for the World Cup... ''Look, it obviously required a major effort. Maybe from time to time, we didn't do what we were expected to do. Maybe on a scale of percentages, maybe 25 per cent was missing. In my field of work, I do many, many, things. Do I neglect things? No. Does something slip my mind because I'm too busy sometimes? Maybe.'' On the next television deal... ''I'm confident the deal will bridge the gap. At the moment the clubs are getting $1m [annual dividend]. They will get a small increase next year but eventually I want to take over the costs of the players so the clubs can concentrate on other things. I believe, sincerely, we can do that. Free-to-air? That depends on what we can negotiate with both the government and Fox Sports. The government will hopefully support us [Socceroos] with anti-siphoning in the air. We are looking for an adjustment for a number of years.''

On the size of the A-League... ''The pressure of having more teams for [TV] coverage, the pressure from Asia [AFC] to have a bigger competition so we could maybe have three, four teams in their competition [Asian Champions League] was there. We tried but it was not working. There was not enough money coming in to make 13 or 14 teams. That realisation made us decide to stabilise the league to 10 teams for a number of years. I can't tell you how many but for a few years. I have an expectation that by the time the Asian Cup [2015] comes in, the A-League will be fixed, all the things will be in place, and if we do a good job we can look at that [expansion] later on. But we will only do it if we can afford it. In the meantime, we need the support of the football-loving people. At the start [2005], I begged the people to come. Maybe I need to beg again.'' On the North Queensland Fury... ''In order for Townsville to have a team, the people of Townsville have to take it on and get the job done. We would have loved to keep them in there but no matter what they say, there was no plan that said they can meet 50, 60 per cent of the costs. We would have been happy on that basis.'' On the A-League being operated and financed by the clubs...

''Let them come with a proposal, and convince us they can support and run the game and be more financially viable than what we are doing now. (Didn't Nathan Tinkler approach you with a $25m offer to help underwrite the league?) Nathan Tinkler came and talked to me. But it was one meeting, and things didn't proceed any further. My opinion is that the A-League will not be able to support itself without the FFA. But let somebody come forward, and we can consider it.'' On the recently announced government review... ''The review is a joint effort, at the government request. There is no tension between us. They just want to see what we are doing. Fair enough. I believe we will able to show the government that we are running the game well. On the whole, I would give a very good mark for any management which has achieved what we have achieved between 2003 and 2011. What is my expectation of the review? That we will get ticked for most of the things we do.'' On Ben Buckley... Loading

''I don't separate myself and the board from management. You have to look at us as one unit. If there are flaws, we share the blame. If there are good things, we share the glory. The public has a right to scrutinise. (Are you happy with his performance?) I don't make a public pronouncement about Ben. (Is he there for the next four years?) I don't know what the next contract will be but I expect Ben will at the FFA for quite some time. Is the criticism fair? Let the people decide.'' On a successor... ''I'm going to stand in September for the next four years. Part of the job will be to identify [one]. If I had a name, I wouldn't tell you. It is a volunteer job, and the person probably needs to have similar qualifications to what I have. Somebody needs to come forward. Even if I live to God knows when, I can't stand again. That's the constitution.''