We would like to bring to your attention the below which has been sent to us by Supporters Direct. This is related to reform of the FA for which a date for a debate in the House of Commons on this topic has now been set.
You will be aware that the F.A. is under increasing pressure to reform its governance structure. The Sports Minister Tracey Crouch MP has set a deadline of April this year for the F.A. to comply with the new code of standards for sports governing bodies or run the risk of losing £30 million a year of public money and the support of the Government for future tournament bids. The Chair of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee, Damian Collins MP, has started plans to take that one step further with legislation which would lead to the reform of the F.A.
We strongly believe that many of the problems we are encountering across the game today such as club ownership could be addressed with the FA re-establishing itself as the governing body and regulator of English football. We need to refresh the structure so that it is more representative and there is a framework to enable better strategic decisions for the long term future of the game to be made.
We have now been informed that a debate about the F.A. will be taking place in the House of Commons on Thursday 9th February. The motion to be discussed will be:
“That this House has no confidence in the ability of the Football Association (FA) to comply fully with its duties as a governing body, as the current governance structures of the FA make it impossible for the organisation to reform itself; and calls on the Government to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the governance of the FA.”
For that reason we recommend that you contact your local MP (s) to make them aware of the debate and to show their support by attending. Many will have seen the damage that can be done to their communities where your own club has been or is currently being mismanaged, and this provides an opportunity for them to speak on your behalf to make your own feelings known.
In December SD and the FSF published a joint submission that we had made to the F.A. Board earlier in the year. It covers a number of the areas and potential changes in more detail.
We have prepared a template email that you might find useful to send on behalf of your Trust or Club to your MP (s). You can download it here