The influential Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK Parliament will ask The FA to 'please explain' its due diligence on Sam Allardyce's appointment
It’s fascinating to observe the difference between the UK Parliament and the Australian Parliament in looking at sports governance.
In short, the Australian Parliament does little – which is a polite way of saying ‘nothing’ – while the UK Parliament’s influential Culture, Media and Sports Committee (CMSC) is like a dog with a bone.
Interestingly, the much-vaunted Senate Inquiry in Australia into Foreign Bribery and Corruption had one small term of reference in relation to sport. But it went quiet on the issue also – not because its Chairman, Sam Dastyari, was forced to stand aside but, according to committee insiders, due to external pressure brought to bear to keep away from sport and specifically football.
But back to the UK.
One of the CMSC’s major concerns is the power imbalance between the clubs, especially the Premier League clubs, and the FA. Contrary to the Australian situation where A-League clubs are apparently seeking more power, the view in the UK is that the power is tipped too much in the way of clubs to the detriment of players and fans.
The latest CMSC hearing scheduled for Monday in London will see the FA Chairman Greg Clarke, and FA Director of Governance and Regulation Darren Bailey, called before the committee as part of its inquiry into the governance of football in the UK.
This comes following recent revelations that have implicated former England manager, ‘One-Game’ Sam Allardyce, on the relationship between coaches, players’ agents and clubs, and against the background of the Committee repeatedly urging football authorities to improve self-governance.
Although the Committee's recommendations have been backed by successive Sports Ministers and progress has been promised by the FA, the Committee is concerned that little has changed. The CMSC is of the view that real reform in relation to the ownership of clubs, transfers of players, the influence of fans, the role of agents and investment in the grassroots has stalled.
It is thought likely that the FA will be questioned about the extent to which they conducted due diligence on the appointment of Allardyce, as well as their backing of Michel Platini as President of FIFA last year.
The FFA is fortunate that it is protected from such a level of interest within the Australian Parliament.
Imagine if they were questioned about the appointment of Franz Beckenbauer’s good friend, Holger Osieck, as national coach or their backing of Sepp Blatter for President in 2011 despite urgings to the contrary – to name just a few decisions that were known to be ill-conceived at the time.
For a start, Australia doesn’t have the equivalent of the CMSC. Management and accountability of sports governance is left to an agency that has little influence, power or visibility in the bureaucratic pecking-order, the Australian Sports Commission.
The CMSC is of the view that football in the UK will not be able to comply with the UK Government’s ‘gold standard’ charter for the governance of sporting bodies to be published soon. By way of contrast, in Australia, FFA and other major sports are mostly given a tick of approval by the Australian Sports Commission for meeting a basic level of governance principles.