Lord Triesman maintains he did not renegotiate Fabio Capello's contract without the approval of the FA board.
Ex-FA chief insists changes were made after his departure
Former FA chairman Lord Triesman maintains he did not renegotiate Fabio Capello's England contract without the approval of the board.
Premier League chief Dave Richards has supported claims made by FA general secretary Alex Horne last week that Triesman removed a break clause from the Italian manager's contract which allowed him to stay until 2012 without the agreement of the full FA Board ahead of last summer's World Cup.
But while admitting he told Capello the FA did not intend to utilise the clause, Triesman has reiterated his stance that he made no official negotiations with the coach over his deal.
Changes
Asked if he made changes to the Italian's contract, Triesman told
Sky Sports News: "No. When he asked me if the FA intended to use the break clause in his contract, I said I had no intention of using it.
"Can you imagine if I'd said the opposite just as they were about to go off to the World Cup? I can't imagine what the public or media response to that would have been.
"At the time I don't think it was conceivable that I would have operated a break clause. Just completely inconceivable.
"I had no intention of using it and that was my position. We didn't have documents in front of us, we didn't have contracts in front of us.
"It wasn't a negotiation in the sense that I understand. I always took the view that when you were negotiating a contract with the documents, that if you could you would arrive in principal in agreement and then take that back to the board and ask for approval.
"If you look at all of the senior contracts that we dealt with over the period I was there, there was never one where we departed from that standard.
"Had I still been at the FA, and had there been changes to Fabio's contract, of course they'd have gone to the board. But I wasn't there."
Triesman also responded to Richards' claims he was 'hurt' by the ex-chairman accusing him of using aggressive bullying tactics in an attempt to block the FA's efforts to reform.
Hurt
"My intention was not to hurt him," added Triesman.
"I just think when you're dealing with people in private rather than in major meetings, it's extremely important that you deal with them in a civil way and that you're not overly forceful.
"I don't believe that you can make the right decisions in a climate where one of the parties feels that they've got to put things with such vehemence that it's almost impossible for anybody else to get a word in edgeways. I don't get bullied but I think there are proper standards for dealing with people.
"I think his style is too assertive to represent a proper balance in an argument."
