Football: Andy Martin's future uncertain

Andy Martin. Photo / Photosport

Andy Martin's tenure as chief executive of New Zealand Football could be coming to a close.

He's under severe pressure, with no signs of it abating.

Until now, the main focus has been on under-fire Ferns coach Andreas Heraf, after 13 players wrote letters of complaint about him, with allegations around bullying, intimidation and a culture of fear, as revealed by the Herald last week.

Those players also said they will not play under Heraf, which appears to make the Austrian's roles as Ferns coach and national technical director untenable.

Heraf's conduct will be under examination in the upcoming review but now the focus and spotlight is switching to Martin.

The Herald on Sunday understands several former NZF employees are ready to raise concerns about Martin, should they be given latitude in the review.

There is concern within the football community about Martin's conduct since the fallout from the Ferns' game against Japan two weeks ago.

It wasn't a good look when the chief executive endorsed Heraf unequivocally four days after the match in Wellington but probably his most serious comment came last Thursday when he said he had no prior knowledge of any issues within the Ferns camp before the players' letters were received by NZF last weekend.

This is despite former Football Ferns manager Claire Hamilton raising concerns about the team environment and culture with NZF staff members, including Martin, after the tour to Spain in March, as reported by the Herald on Sunday last week.

Martin was publicly adamant he had no prior knowledge of any allegations or issues.

In the same press conference last week, Martin said there were "performance management" issues around Hamilton, implying this was a factor in her departure.

Hamilton was a popular and capable team manager over a number of years - Martin said she was "a stalwart" of NZF.

Martin also faces questions over why he appointed Heraf as Ferns coach despite the obvious conflict of interest, as the Austrian was already national technical director.

The review's scope and scale is expected to be confirmed in the next week, as well as the person, or people, who will be conducting it.

Its terms of reference will be made public - as confirmed by NZF president Deryck Shaw - and are expected to look extensively into many aspects of NZF's operations in recent months, rather than just being confined to the Ferns' environment.

This means it could include the coaching appointment processes for the All Whites, and under-20 and under-17 men's teams. Those appointments were overseen by Heraf and Martin, and lacked transparency.

Given the futures of Heraf and Martin are up in the air, such key decisions under their watch will also need to be closely examined.