January 29 – English football’s outspoken chairman Greg Dyke will not seek re-election when his current term ends in June because of a battle over proposed reforms.
Dyke had initially said he would stand for a further year in office but opposition to reforms from some FA councillors and a minority of board members has made him change his mind.
The 68-year-old said “a more of a conciliatory figure than me” was needed and that he will now leave the governing body in the summer.
“In early January I announced I would stand as chairman of the FA for a further year although I wasn’t certain this was the right decision for either the FA or me,” Dyke said in a statement.
“During January, however, as work on options for governance reform crystalised it became clear to all of us that there wouldn’t be a unanimous position on governance reform in the board.
“What now appears to be the case is that there is a majority position on the Board for much needed significant reform. I fully support this but I recognise it is going to be a fight to get through the FA council.
“I had already decided that if no reform was possible I was going to leave anyway this summer, a position I had shared with a number of colleagues.
“What I now see is that even if we get the reform through (which will be a difficult and divisive process although essential), I am probably not the best person to pick up the pieces following the inevitable discord.”
Dyke, a former BBC director general, has been FA chairman since July 2013, during which time he became an outspoken critic of FIFA under Sepp Blatter. He has tried to modernise the FA and increase the number of home-grown players in the Premier League.
Under Dyke’s tenure the FA was embarrassed last year when it prematurely backed Michel Platini for FIFA president, only for the then UEFA president to be suspended and banned for eight years over accepting a “disloyal payment” from Sepp Blatter. The FA’s support is now likely to switch to Gianno Infantino but no decision has yet been announced.
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