FA focused on increasing diversity, says female board member Heather Rabbatts
Tuesday 13 December 2016 16:47, UK
Heather Rabbatts has welcomed the prospect of government intervention to change the make-up of the FA and says the organisation needs a "package of reforms" to make it more diverse.
Five former FA chiefs this week wrote a letter to Damian Collins, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, claiming the organisation is "full of elderly white men", adding the FA is "collectively unrepresentative of English society".
Collins told Sky Sports News HQ on Monday he is in the process of preparing a draft bill to be put forward to Parliament outlining how a new structure of governance for the FA can be achieved.
And Rabbatts, who is the only female member on the FA's 12-strong board - believes this week's events will speed up changes to English football's governing body that many think are long overdue.
"I think on the FA Board and indeed within the FA Council, clearly, the debate on governance is very much a live one," Rabbatts told Tuesday's Sportswomen show on Sky Sports News HQ.
"The [prospect of government] intervention makes it very clear to all sports bodies, not just the FA, that the expectation is that there will be a significant change in terms of representation. Without demonstrating we are achieving that there will be a loss of public funds and I think that is a very effective lever and has focused everybody's minds at the FA around how we should achieve that.
"I'm the first woman and first person of colour on the board of the FA in 125 years. This is a very historic organisation and we all know change happens a lot slower than many people would like.
"I think the difference we have now is we have a very clear mandate from government about their expectations of change at board and council level and that is what we are all striving to achieve. I think ministerial intervention is a helpful focus in that regard."
Rabbatts fell short of confirming whether two more women are likely be added to the FA board, which would result in 25 per cent of the board being comprised of females.
"There are a number of changes under consideration and there is very positive support about increasing the number of women," she said.
"But I think it has to be about a package of reforms to ensure the FA takes that step forward that we all want to see.
"Clearly improving the number of women on the board is a major priority as is better representation from the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) community at council level, and who knows, maybe at board level in the future.
"In terms of staff and employees at the FA you have much greater diversity," Rabbatts added.
"Both of the previous chairmen who were signatories to the letter have been very active supporters around diversity.
"I have found in the FA board and on the council there is a measure of support for change. That is what we are trying to build on and working on initiatives like working on [getting more] women into leadership have been agreed on by all the stakeholders."
