Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says FA shouldn’t need government’s help to reform

Wenger believes the FA should not rely on Westminster to resolve the FA's issues
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
James Olley12 December 2016

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger today insisted the Football Association should be “adult” enough to govern the game and not rely on government legislation to reform.

MP Damian Collins, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, is working to prepare a draft Bill to revise the FA’s structure after five former executives wrote a letter seeking formal intervention after claiming the organisation was incapable of dealing with its role in the game.

Former FA chairman David Bernstein, David Davies, Greg Dyke, Alex Horne and David Triesman said that those in charge are “collectively unrepresentative of English society” given the majority of “elderly white men” present who are “under-qualified” to tackle issues in modern football.

However, Wenger believes the FA should not rely on Westminster to resolve ongoing institutional issues – both internally and with the Premier League.

“My reaction is that football and politics should not deal together,” he said. “Football is a very special activity that should be ruled by football people. Our target is to be adult enough to rule our own activity. I don’t agree with that.

“When you look at the history, when sport was linked with politics, it was not always for the benefit of sport.

“I don’t really know what the FA’s frustration is. Football is a sport that has values. You are journalists that love sport, I’ve worked in sport for many years and what we all want is that the values of our sport are respected.

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“I’m not involved in how to manage a federation on a daily basis. I don’t know how difficult it is. Apart from the fact that England has not won the World Cup or the European Championship, I don’t see that there is a crisis in this country.”

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is also planning to ask for a debate in the House of Commons calling for a vote of no confidence in the FA after the damning letter outlined further problems including the organisation’s agreement to contribute tens of millions of pounds to the Premier League rather than grassroots football.

They also raised familiar concerns over the Premier League’s dominant financial power and that the FA Board is neither an independent board nor an independent regulator.

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