|
With the final report from businessman Lord Burns now available, the structure of the FA faces a major shake up, if the opposition of the 'blazer brigade' to modernisation can be overcome. England's football governing body could get an effective board of directors for the first time in its 142-year history. If the proposals are adopted, there will be a new FA Board including independent non-executive directors. The new board would be made up of two executive directors, two or three independent non-executives and three directors each appointed by the professional and community, or grass roots, games. With FA turnover approaching £200m a year, it would have a governance structure similar to that found in blue chip companies. As it is at present set up (since 1999), the board is divided equally between representatives of the professional and grass-roots games, with the chair of the FA Council and the FA chief executive included as non-voting members. This model might have been designed to create deadlock. As one senior former FA insider commented, 'Nine times out of 10, any critical vote will go six-six. You have got a board that is set up to fail.' The review also tackles the problem of standards in the way in which the game is run with a proposal for a new semi-autonomous regulation and compliace unit headed by a full-time manager who would probably not have close ties to existing clubs, leagues or other football organisations. Ideally, he would be brought in from outside the rather inward looking football community. Transparency would be a key feature of the unit's proceedings. The hurdle for adoption of the proposals is high with consent needed from 75 per cent of FA shareholders. However, students of the regulatory state such as Mick Moran have drawn attention to the persistence of self-government in sport when areas like financial services had been put under the control of statutory bodies. Lurking in the background is the threat of government intervention, although government would prefer football to sort out its own problems. Sports minister Richard Caborn observed that the FA needed to become a 'flexible, responsive and authoritative voice for football.' Talking about flexible, the proposals say nothing about consumer representation for fans. What about a fans' ombudsman with a seat on the board?
|
