New Zealand Football President surprised by CEO Andy Martin's 'retirement'

Andy Martin has "retired". Photo / Photosport

Will New Zealand Football look within New Zealand to find their next chief executive?

It's a question on the mind of a number of Kiwi football fans after Andy Martin announced his "retirement" from the position on Friday.

"All I can say is we'll get the best person for the job, whoever that might be," NZF president Deryck Shaw said about filling Martin's role. "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to determine the geographical location of where that person came from.

"I certainly hope there would be a lot of local candidates who might put their name forward."

Shaw said he was surprised by Martin's decision to leave his position with the organisation, and said there was no pressure from the board for Martin to stand down.

"He made that decision that now was the appropriate time for him."

While he said Martin was not pressured to leave his role, Shaw would not comment when asked if New Zealand Football had received complaints about Martin or heard any concerns about him.

"I'm not going to comment around any part of that independent review. We said, as I think you'll recall, at the media conference last week, that we wouldn't be commenting at all about any part of this until such time as we announce the terms of reference and the reviewer."

Martin's decision to leave the role, which he manned since 2013, comes in the wake of the unprecedented fallout between the Football Ferns and coach Andreas Heraf. Martin and Heraf both took on their roles fresh from Europe.

Heraf has been under fire after 13 players wrote letters of complaint about him, with allegations around bullying, intimidation and a culture of fear.

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.

Earlier this month Heraf was placed on leave as an independent investigation was launched into the Football Ferns environment.

Martin was publicly adamant he had no prior knowledge of any allegations or issues and it is unclear if he will be spoken to as part of the investigation now he has left his role.

While the person leading the review was not yet public knowledge, it is expected to be revealed next week.

An interim chief executive will soon be appointed by the executive committee, with a permanent replacement to follow.