FA chairman Greg Clarke claims bid to increase diversity on its board was blocked
Mr Clarke claims he put forward ideas such as allowing for more director spaces for diverse candidates, should they be qualified.
Tuesday 28 July 2020 16:47, UK
Several representatives on the board of the Football Association (FA) have effectively blocked a review into its diversity, chairman Greg Clarke has claimed.
Mr Clarke says in a letter that the professional game representatives were among the members that blocked a number of options proposed to make the board more diverse.
"We discussed a number of options including: making the chair of the inclusion advisory board (Paul Elliott) a director and giving the professional and national games an extra board seat each that could provide the flexibility to allow appointment of diverse candidates should they be the best qualified person for the role," he wrote.
"Both our independent directors offered to stand down to create opportunities for a more diverse board but the board was united in declining their offer.
"The professional game were against such a review, believing the changes introduced in 2017 were sufficient.
"The national game were sympathetic to a review and consultation with Council but did not want to oppose the professional game.
"However, without the support of the professional game and national game, who have a majority of directors, a review of the FA board composition is not possible."
The representatives for the professional game are Peter McCormick, who is the chairman of the legal advisory group of the Premier League, Rick Parry, the English Football League (EFL) chairman and Rupinder Bains, who jointly represents the Premier League and the EFL.
Clarke added: "I had hoped that the FA, as the game's governing body, would have been able to examine whether its own board was appropriately constituted to represent a diverse game and share its thinking with Council.
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"This process is happening across football but will not now happen with respect to the FA board.
"As FA chairman this disappoints me, as leader of Council I felt honour bound to inform you of the situation.
"It seems to me better to be open on the issue now rather than surprise Council when Paul Elliott publishes the recommendations of his working group in October."
Anti-racism group Fare criticised the Premier League following the publishing of Clarke's claims.
Piara Powar, the group's executive director, tweeted: "Hey @premierleague you used your veto to block a qualified black person joining the FA board.
"We know you support #BlackLivesMatter it appeared on the backs of players shirts. Show that wasn't an empty gesture, let qualified people sit around the top table. Share power."
High profile players, including Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, have recently called on people in high profile positions to speak out on racism and implement change.
Premier League players had Black Lives Matter on the back of their shirts when the season restarted in June, after the killing of George Floyd sparked global protests.