FA’s reform warning

THE FA have been warned they risk losing all Government support for future bids on major football events if they continue to resist reform.

Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch has already made it clear that when the FA Council kicked out former chairman Greg Dyke’s reform agenda, it jeopardised the £30million funding received from Whitehall over four years.

UK Sport and Sport England launched their new code for sports governance yesterday — which the FA and other leading national sports governing bodies like the ECB and RFU fail to comply with in numerous ways. And they confirmed that the Government and its agencies would not co-operate with future World Cup bids, for instance, if the FA do not make the changes required. A bespoke timescale is to be agreed with each sporting body.

Sport England director of sport Phil Smith said: ‘The government are very serious about withholding their support if necessary. It’s not just funding at risk for those that don’t reform.’

The changes required include 30 per cent gender diversity on boards, greater transparency on structure, strategy and finances — plus councils being unable to override the board, which happens at Wembley. The FA say they are acutely aware of what needs to be done.

lthe numerous reviews going on in British Sport, specifically around drugs-riddled cycling, have convinced UK Sport about the need to set up a permanent investigations unit rather than having to start from scratch every time. Simon Morton, UK Sport chief operating officer, said: ‘There is an increasing need for British sport to have an investigatory function around independent reviews. Rather than having to reinvent the wheel every time, clarity on the process would be beneficial.’ ITV sport’S new horseracing coverage, beginning in the new year, has a business model based on funding from bookmaker advertising. So the broadcaster will be among those concerned by a Department of Culture, Media and Sport gambling review.

The review is looking into banning all bookmaker-based advertising around live sport until the 9pm watershed.

If such a rule is brought in, racing’s governing body BHA are sure to appeal about their sport being exempted because betting is such an instrumental ingredient.