NEVER before has Australian rules football been under such threat from the international game we refer to as soccer.

The number of young people playing the game has been growing for years, to the point that there are more young Australians playing soccer than Australian rules.

Of course, the level of participation falls off when our youth reach the ages of 15 or 16, when meaningful competition decreases and more opportunities exist in Australian rules.

There are several reasons for the build-up in the popularity and participation in soccer. Australia is increasingly a multicultural community. As more people join us from Asia, Europe, the African and Middle Eastern countries, where soccer is the only form of football played, so too have participation levels increased in Australia.

International soccer has been receiving much more media attention in Australia in recent times, which is increasingly popularising the sport. Australia having again qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil means soccer will carry all before it until that competition closes on July 13, 2014.

The visits of international teams to play friendlies against our national team, or the arrival of English clubs such as Manchester United or Liverpool to Sydney and Melbourne respectively, adds a tremendous buzz.

Last week there was a full house in Sydney, where Manchester United played a local all-stars side, and tonight is a full house at the MCG where Liverpool will play Melbourne Victory.

Huge publicity, the sale of merchandise and the memories generated will increase the participation of soccer in Australia.

Finally by way of evidence, even at one of our more established private boys' schools, the number of students playing soccer is greater than those playing Australian rules -- something I would once have thought of as unimaginable.

This represents a massive challenge for Aussie rules. But Australian soccer is not without its own challenges if it is going to maximise its opportunities. Having in large part thrown off its ethnic foundations, it is now run by a Sydney-centric board, when it is a national game.

The president of Football Federation of Australia is Frank Lowy, one of the founders of Westfield. Mr Lowy is a very successful businessman and has a deep passion for soccer. He has been very important in growing the competition here.

The board of eight who administer soccer with Mr Lowy are, with one exception, Sydney-based and in the main are individuals who have, or had, long commercial or personal relationships with him. So the FFA has a governance challenge.

Of the 10 clubs in the A-League, perhaps only one, Melbourne Victory, is at better than break-even position. The rest require funding from governments, the Australian Sports Commission or the FFA to trade and compete.

It's similar to the AFL where, of the 18 clubs, perhaps only seven or eight are financially independent of the AFL.

So soccer also has an economic challenge.

Thirdly, although soccer has more people playing, many drop out in their mid-teens or go overseas to advance their careers. So the challenge for the FFA is to readjust its governance for the next 10 years of growth and improve the economic viability of the game so its reputation and payments to players provide a career path in this country.

It would appear to me that soccer would be much better served by a single administration (like the AFL) operating from a financially viable model administered by a nationwide professional management.

But the complacency within the administration of AFL, the increasing financial dependency of most clubs on it, the dropping of standards of governance by the AFL and the hubris it demonstrates represent big opportunities for Australian soccer -- if it can get its house in order.

Recently, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said that outside England, the club sold more merchandise online to Australians than to any other community.

Our home-grown game of football is under threat. Not immediately, but the growth of soccer could result in a different landscape in 10 or 20 years.

The challenge for the AFL is to do what it does to the highest standards possible. No compromises on values and standards. The way it finally resolves the crises at Essendon and Melbourne, the financial viability of many clubs, the massive growth of its own administration and its fundamental wastage of money, just to name a few issues, will very much influence the growth of soccer in Australia in the years ahead.

Have a good day.

Jeff Kennett is a former premier of Victoria