Cracks in Capital Football board as director Garth Morrison hits out

Garth Morrison was also critical of the lack of professionalism for the marquee Canberra United program as he fights to seek re-election at the annual general meeting next week.

He's spoken out as cracks have emerged in the boardroom, with a dispute arising around the validity of three director nominations that were rejected for the upcoming election.

Re-election submissions from Morrison and deputy chairman Angelo Konstantinou were accepted by the board, as well as a nomination from Andrew MacFarlane.

The accepted candidates' statements were sent out to the 12 voting members on Wednesday afternoon, but Morrison's was not included.

Capital Football says the deadline for nominee messages was March 31, a day before they were sent to members. Morrison said there was confusion about the deadline, and sent his message to capital football on the morning of April 1.

It was not included in the Capital Football mailout, so Morrison forwarded his message to members.

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Morrison says he has been critical of the board from inside it and voiced those concerns in his statement.

"I've been quite critical of the board over the past few years because I find the board has become increasingly opaque in recent times," Morrison said.

"It's been defensive and protecting itself, its own reputation, rather than that of Capital Football itself.

"It's no longer united or working in the best interests of football any longer. It's just working to protect itself, almost as a separate entity to football. I said that in my statement as well."

Canberra United has missed the finals the past three years in a row as other teams invest more money in their W-League programs.

Adding to their struggles, Canberra was without a team manager for the majority of the season leaving outgoing coach Heather Garriock to pick up the duties.

"The handling has been sub-par in relation to running a professional program and the standards that should be set for such an environment," Morrison said.

Morrison has called for the AGM to be deferred to a later date, raising concerns over the three rejected nominations and the meeting being held online.

The meeting had already been postponed from April 6 to April 15 in line with Football Federation Australia's initial suspension on all grassroots football activity due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Capital Football decided to move the meeting online after the national body extended the suspension a further seven weeks.

Officials are testing the voting system this week, but Morrison is concerned about the risk of members not being able to vote or take part in all of the meeting due to limited internet speeds and connections.

The Australian Security and Investments Commission will not take action for entities, such as Capital Football, who chose to postpone their AGM meetings up to the end of July. However, they also support the holding of AGMs with appropriate technology.

Morrison sent a request to the Capital Football board to defer the meeting last week based on these grounds and has asked for the three rejected candidates to be included in the vote. He has not received a notification on their decision or whether they are considering his proposal.

"Please note that as a nominee director, I was excluded from all Capital Football board decisions relating to the AGM," Morrison said.

"I have requested that the AGM be deferred and that the three rejected nominations be included. I am yet to receive a response from the Capital Football board."