By David Gold
July 1 – The Irish Football Association (IFA) has voted through changes to its articles of association, in doing so creating a 10 member elected Executive Board and devolving power over league affairs to the leagues themselves.
The IFA has been under pressure in the past, particularly over the affair which saw previous chief executive Howard Wells dismissed and which was criticised by an independent report.
The changes were passed overwhelmingly, though some opposition came from the Mid-Ulster League and North West Association.
Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the IFA, was delighted with the changes.
“A lot of the groundwork had been done before.
“There was a huge amount of consultation done by Timothy Quinn and his team.
“They listened to opinions from throughout the IFA and [tonight] was a vindication of all the hard work.
“It was the right thing to do, we have got the right decision and it sets us on the right footing going forward into the future.
“It turns us into much more of a best practice model for governance, it makes the Board accountable to a Council of the IFA and that is a big thing.”
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