English FA faces lawmakers’ reforms

LONDON — The English Football Association is facing a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons and the enforced overhaul of decision-making functions dominated by “elderly men.” British legislators made the announcement after being told by former FA leaders that the governing body’s failure to challenge the financial might of the Premier League contributes to the England team’s “embarrassing failures.”

In a letter to the parliamentary committee overseeing sport, five ex-FA executives called for the appointment of a football regulator to modernize their former employer and make it more representative of society. The committee’s head said he is planning to introduce legislation to impose governance reforms on the FA.

The FA is coming under attack from former executives and legislators while trying to grapple with the biggest crisis in its 153-year history over past sexual abuse of youth team players. The FA’s limited response when allegations first surfaced against coaches and clubs in the 1990s is subject of an internal review, while police forces across the country have opened investigations.

The England national team has also gone through a year of turmoil, with a loss to Iceland in the round of 16 at the European Championship leading to the departure of manager Roy Hodgson. Successor Sam Allardyce was then forced out after one game over unguarded comments to journalists posing as businessmen, and Gareth Southgate was hired in the continuing quest to produce the country’s first trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

The lack of success on the international stage is in part a result of governance failings within the FA, according to Greg Dyke, David Bernstein and David Triesman, the past three FA chairs, ex-general secretary Alex Horne and former executive director David Davies.