Regan needs help in waging war on SFA red tape

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan (pictured with George Peat) needs the help of everyone in the Scottish game.
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He was only appointed in July but must often have felt that he was captaining the footballing equivalent of the titanic.
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The SFA, according to Celtic QC Paul McBride, is "institutionally dysfunctional". Last week's written judgement by Lord Carloway in the matter of Neil Lennon's appeal against a six-match touchline ban, found that SFA president George Peat's presence while the Celtic manager's fate was being decided by the disciplinary committee was "contrary to British principles of fair play".�

A first-year law student would have known that, so why didn't the SFA?

The case highlights the problems of an organisation that has been stuck in a time warp.

Regan's brief is to modernise and streamline - and he is set to put his proposals to the SFA annual meeting on 6 June. Now he needs the support of everyone who has a brighter vision for the game in Scotland.

The old committee structure has had its day and modern methods of working are long overdue. The Lennon case dealt with a man's livelihood and, while football does not want to start resembling the Court of Session, it has to respect people's rights.

There are several things that the chief executive needs to do. It was recently reported that he plans to restructure the SFA board, incorporating a professional and non-professional board and a main strategic board with responsibility for financial and other major decisions.

Disciplinary procedures will also streamlined, hopefully leading to the ending of a ludicrous situation where currently five committees deal with various disciplinary matters.

But there are other things that also need to be addressed.

The SFA is seen by many people as remote and Glasgow-centric.

The Scottish Government has held meetings around the country. Why shouldn't the SFA do the same?

Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee, Inverness - and other places too - should all be included when it comes to SFA business.

It is the "Scottish" Football Association after all, not the "Glasgow" FA.

Greater involvement and participation from supporters groups and organisations like Supporters Direct would be welcome. And greater openness and transparency in decision making is a must.

In the wake of the report from former First Minister Henry McLeish pointing out many of the failings of the Scottish game, a vibrant national association is needed to restore the health of the game.

If Regan can push through the changes needed, he will have done Scottish football a huge favour. But he'll need a whole lot of people to put self-interest aside, in the greater cause of the national interest.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jimspence/2011/03/regan_needs_help_in_waging_war.html

Dino Zoff Hristo Stoichkov David Beckham Tom Finney