Football Association warned by MPs it is in “Fergie Time” over calls for reform
Football Association chiefs have been warned they are running out of time to reform voluntarily after MPs approved a motion of no confidence in the body’s ability to modernise on Thursday.
The FA could lose at least £30m of Sport England funding unless it introduces reforms including greater diversity among board members, more transparency and term limits.
“The FA, to use a football analogy, are not only in extra time, they are at the end of extra time, in ‘Fergie Time’,” said Damian Collins MP, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
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“They are 1-0 down, and if they don’t pick up fairly quickly, reform will be delivered to them.”
MPs have also called for fans and grassroots representatives to have a greater say in the FA’s decisions and for the influence of the Premier League and Football League to be diluted.
FA chairman Greg Clarke this week vowed to resign if government did not support a set of reform proposals that he is set to present to Sports Minister Tracey Crouch in April.
Fergie Time – meaning the latest stage of a game, when all allotted minutes appear to have been used up – was coined during Sir Alex Ferguson's glorious reign as Manchester United, when his team developed a happy knack of scoring vital last-ditch goals.