FA Chair Greg Clarke "challenged" the government to accept his "once in a generation" reforms to how football is run, "or else to show that they can do a better job themselves," according to Jack Pitt-Brooke of the London INDEPENDENT. Clarke unveiled his plans on Monday for a reformed FA Board and FA Council, "after six months of discussions with stakeholders in the English game." Clarke "wants both the board and the council to be smaller, tighter and more representative," and believes his plans have "over-achieved" in making that possible. These corporate governance reforms "have been unanimously agreed by the FA board and will go to the FA council before being submitted to Sport England." The FA "faced heavy political criticism recently." Clarke said, "This set of proposals has overachieved on what I thought was possible. So I am hopeful that we will get a fair hearing. If they say this is unacceptable, then I don’t know who is going to do better. If you trust government to come in and run football, yabba-dabba-doo, let them have a go." Clarke admitted that this plan was "nine out of 10" of what the government had been hoping for with the Sport England code. Clarke’s plans "involve reducing the FA board to 10 people," with three female members by '18, in accordance with the Sport England code. While "there is not the same clear target for BAME [black and minority ethnic] board membership, Clarke insisted that it was important for the board as well as for the council." Clarke: "If we are going to be out recruiting new INEDs [independent non-exec directors], I will work really hard to ensure that we have BAME exclusivity as well as female exclusivity. I am committed to ethnic and gender diversity. I just cannot break down exactly how I am going to achieve it today" (INDEPENDENT, 3/6).
MORE WOMEN: In London, Murad Ahmed reported at present there is only one woman, Heather Rabbatts, on the FA’s Board. The proposals include the introduction of 11 new faces to the 121-member ruling council that "better reflects the inclusive and diverse nature of English football," while vowing to remove some of its longest-serving officials. Board and council members "will also become subject to term limits." Clarke vowed to resign "if he could not secure passage of significant governance reforms" through the FA Council, which critics described as the "men in blazers." The process "will be watched carefully" by the U.K. government, which has been "pushing for change." Failure could result in the FA losing £30M ($36.7M) in funding from Sport England (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/6). In London, Ed Aarons reported Clarke said, "I have been deluged by what I perceive to be reasonable outrage by people who think the code should’ve considered that diversity is more than just women. I did not write the code. If I had written the code, it would’ve had more of an emphasis on ethnic diversity, because I believe in that just as strong as I do in empowering women. But, let’s be realistic. All we’re being asked to do is have three out of 10" (GUARDIAN, 3/6).
