Newcastle Jets academy director Gary van Egmond says the selection of players in the club's academy teams must be impartial.
Mr van Egmond's comments come amid community concern about coaches having links to private academies and clubs, a problem that is rife in Sydney.
Parents have raised concerns that some private academies promote their connections to A-League clubs such as the Jets. They fear such links create the potential for conscious or unconscious bias with player selections.
Jets CEO Shane Mattiske said the club had "processes for the selection of players and coaches".
"No individual can in effect select a player. There's a three-level process of recommendation, endorsement and then approval for player selection," Mr Mattiske said.
"There's also a code of conduct that all our coaches are expected to comply with."
Mr van Egmond said the "integrity of the club is paramount" and he would "not stand" for any coach that compromised this.
"That won't happen. If we find out that does, that person won't be there for long."
Jets youth teams play in Sydney-based Football NSW competitions. In 2018, Football NSW conducted a review into "private academies and external providers".
To make a career out of football, coaches will often make income from "a variety of sources", the review found.
"They may do some work with a private academy, additional work with a high school, coach at a club, or act as a club's technical director. In some cases, this leads to claims of conflict of interest."
A coach who works for a private academy and club "may be accused of selecting or favouring players" who pay him for training.
The report said Football NSW "does not allow coaches of its state representative teams to be involved with private academies". The coaches must be "completely objective and independent" and not allow themselves to be "accused of favouritism or selecting players from a particular private academy, rather than on merit".
The report said Football NSW was concerned that some private academies offer "false hope" by offering pathways to domestic or international football clubs that don't exist.
Northern NSW Football CEO David Eland said the Hunter "doesn't have many private academies".
"They're everywhere in Sydney," Mr Eland said.
He added that the review also found private academies "fulfil a very important role that, in some cases, is not being fulfilled by clubs or even member federations".
The professional coaching services run by the likes of former Socceroo and Jets coach Clayton Zane, former Jets midfielder Jobe Wheelhouse and former Newcastle Breakers player Neil Owens, for example, are considered to play important roles.
Mr Zane said "I'm big on having integrity".
He said he doesn't make promises about trials with professional clubs or use his connections in the game to lure players to clubs he's involved with. "I just want players to get better," he said.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
