U.K. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch on Monday warned FA Chair Greg Clarke and CEO Martin Glenn she was "ready to strip" the FA of all its public funding -- "and block it from bidding to host the game’s biggest events -- if it failed to ensure the Mark Sampson scandal could never happen again," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Crouch "refused to join calls" for Clarke and Glenn to "resign or be fired over their handling of Sampson’s sacking," but declined to "offer them her backing either." Crouch also threatened the governing bodies of Olympic and Paralympic sports "with a withdrawal of funding if they failed to address the athlete welfare scandal to have engulfed them." Crouch said:
- She was "absolutely" prepared to block the FA’s bid for the 2021 Women’s Euro and future Euros, World Cups and Champions League finals if the FA did not "get themselves in order."
- She found evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry about the FA’s handling of racism allegations against Sampson "shocking."
- She "had already made her feelings clear to the governing body," with her branding its processes for dealing with discrimination complaints as "not fit for purpose."
- She was "ready to strip national governing bodies of funding if they failed to stop athletes being physically and emotionally abused, even if it meant the country winning fewer medals."
- Her No. 1 priority was dealing with sport’s pedophile scandal and "she was fighting for a change to the law" (TELEGRAPH, 10/23).
THE WRONG MESSAGE: The BBC reported LGBT groups said that "scrapping legislation" that outlaws offensive behavior at football matches would send a "negative message to the community." Members of Scottish Parliament "have been hearing evidence about the impact of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act." The government is "reviewing the controversial law after a bid was launched to repeal it." Colin Macfarlane of Stonewall Scotland agreed that there were "implementation issues" with the act, and said that it "was time for it to be reviewed," but added that repeal would "send a very negative signal to LGBT people" (
BBC, 10/24).
