Post by Macmoish on Mar 1, 2012 7:49:12 GMT
GUARDIAN/David Conn
FA proposes licensing system to govern all football clubs in England
• Changes part of response to government demand for reform
• Malcolm Clarke severely critical of the suggestions
The Football Association has proposed introducing a licensing system governing the finances and management of all clubs in England, as a key element of its response to the government's call for FA reform. The other main proposals in the FA's response, delivered to the minister for culture, media and sport, Jeremy Hunt, are understood to relate to reform of the internal committee structures at football's overall governing body.
The FA itself has not announced or published its response, which was delivered privately, and the FA chairman, David Bernstein, declined to discuss its contents until the government has seen it first. Bernstein did say: "There has been a huge amount of co-operation between the various parts of football, including the Premier League, Football League and [amateur] national game. One of my objectives when I became the FA chairman was to improve the FA's relationships, and I think we have made a great deal of progress with that."
However, Malcolm Clarke, the chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, who was consulted about the FA's proposals, was severely critical, describing the proposed licensing system as "very weak". Clarke said that overall, the FA is proposing to leave the governance of the professional game to the Premier League and Football League themselves.
It is understood that the licensing system will initially embody only the leagues' current, existing rules for its clubs, into a new licence to be sanctioned by the FA. New rules could then be proposed by the FA board, or by the professional game board (PGB), the decision-making body for the leagues within the FA. Both the board and the PGB will ultimately be able to veto proposals, which Clarke argues leaves the FA without independent authority to govern the professional game in areas which concern fans.
"The internal reorganisation is consolidating the power of the Premier League particularly," Clarke said. "It shows that the FA sees itself now not as the governing body for the whole of football but as an 'association of interests' as the Premier League describes it.
"The licensing proposals are very weak and show no evidence of the FA tackling the key issues of club ownership and debt. Overall this is a disappointing response."
The FA will argue that it has met the recommendations the government made for reform in October, following a report by the select committee for culture, media and sport. It has framed the proposed new structure with a semi-independent body to oversee that the rules within club licenses are being followed. The FA argues that although the licensing proposals do not contain any radical ideas on how supporters can be better involved in clubs and decision-making, which the government called for, detailed work on this, within the licensing system, will follow, if the government is satisfied with the proposed overall framework.
A key issue will be the makeup of the board itself. The government and select committee explicitly recommended it be reduced to 10, but in fact it has since been increased to 14, with the addition of two independent directors, Heather Rabbatts and Roger Devlin.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/29/football-association-reform-licensing-system
FA proposes licensing system to govern all football clubs in England
• Changes part of response to government demand for reform
• Malcolm Clarke severely critical of the suggestions
The Football Association has proposed introducing a licensing system governing the finances and management of all clubs in England, as a key element of its response to the government's call for FA reform. The other main proposals in the FA's response, delivered to the minister for culture, media and sport, Jeremy Hunt, are understood to relate to reform of the internal committee structures at football's overall governing body.
The FA itself has not announced or published its response, which was delivered privately, and the FA chairman, David Bernstein, declined to discuss its contents until the government has seen it first. Bernstein did say: "There has been a huge amount of co-operation between the various parts of football, including the Premier League, Football League and [amateur] national game. One of my objectives when I became the FA chairman was to improve the FA's relationships, and I think we have made a great deal of progress with that."
However, Malcolm Clarke, the chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, who was consulted about the FA's proposals, was severely critical, describing the proposed licensing system as "very weak". Clarke said that overall, the FA is proposing to leave the governance of the professional game to the Premier League and Football League themselves.
It is understood that the licensing system will initially embody only the leagues' current, existing rules for its clubs, into a new licence to be sanctioned by the FA. New rules could then be proposed by the FA board, or by the professional game board (PGB), the decision-making body for the leagues within the FA. Both the board and the PGB will ultimately be able to veto proposals, which Clarke argues leaves the FA without independent authority to govern the professional game in areas which concern fans.
"The internal reorganisation is consolidating the power of the Premier League particularly," Clarke said. "It shows that the FA sees itself now not as the governing body for the whole of football but as an 'association of interests' as the Premier League describes it.
"The licensing proposals are very weak and show no evidence of the FA tackling the key issues of club ownership and debt. Overall this is a disappointing response."
The FA will argue that it has met the recommendations the government made for reform in October, following a report by the select committee for culture, media and sport. It has framed the proposed new structure with a semi-independent body to oversee that the rules within club licenses are being followed. The FA argues that although the licensing proposals do not contain any radical ideas on how supporters can be better involved in clubs and decision-making, which the government called for, detailed work on this, within the licensing system, will follow, if the government is satisfied with the proposed overall framework.
A key issue will be the makeup of the board itself. The government and select committee explicitly recommended it be reduced to 10, but in fact it has since been increased to 14, with the addition of two independent directors, Heather Rabbatts and Roger Devlin.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/29/football-association-reform-licensing-system