The government has warned the "outdated and unrepresentative" FA it will "not get a penny" of public money unless it overhauls its "antiquated governance model, presenting a very real risk" that it will lose £30M ($43M) in funding, according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale "made the threat" after it emerged that outgoing FA Chair Greg Dyke "failed in his attempt to push through long overdue reforms before he leaves in June." Dyke hoped that by agreeing not to seek re-election, he could force through a reform program to make the FA Council more diverse and representative, "to make it directly elected and more accountable and to streamline the number of committees." But Dyke "has faced a backlash from the FA Council, which appears determined not to consider the changes in any form until the former BBC director general has left the building." Whittingdale said that "he would spell out the threat to the FA’s funding in no uncertain terms." He said, "I will be writing to the FA to make clear that if they don’t make sufficient progress on reform, they will not get a penny of taxpayers’ money in the future. We would look instead to route money for grassroots football to other organisations that will adhere to the code of good governance." In '14, the FA saw its £30M, four-year funding award cut by £1.6M "for failing to make progress on participation targets" (GUARDIAN, 5/11).
