Scottish Football set for big changes

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Scottish Football set for big changes A unanimous vote was taken in favor of a complete restructuring of the Scottish Football Association (SFA). The SFA president George Peat had commissioned the report and is stepping down from his position. Stewart Regan, SFA chief executive said that it was an historic day for the SFA and he is delighted that the members also share the vision for the future.

The entire 93 members of the SFA clubs at the meeting in Hampden voted to implement the entire package of recommendations in an attempt to modernize the way the game gets governed in Scotland.

The main changes are the SFA board get reduced from 11 to seven and will include an independent member. The SFA says the board will act more strategic than representative. Two additional boards will be created to work under the main board with one for the professional game and one for the non-professional.

The maligned disciplinary procedures will be entirely rewritten with a compliance officer deciding if cases will be heard by the new semi autonomous judicial panel. The different SFA committees will be disbanded immediately and an audit committee will be formed in order to ensure an efficient organization is operated.

Scottish Football Association delays appointment of performance director

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Scottish Football Association delays appointment of performance director Despite his continuous search for a performance director, Scottish Football Association Chief Executive, Stewart Regan, believes it could be next season before an appointment is made.

Last April, The SFA published Henry McLeish’s Review of Scottish Football report. One of the main recommendations of the report was to provision the role of SFA Performance Director.

Supervision of the new academy structure in order to elevate the standard of footballers, will be the main priority for the new performance director. Therefore, it is essential for the SFA to get this appointment right and find the right person for the job, According to Regan.

The former chief executive of Yorkshire Country Cricket Club revealed that the SFA are keeping an open mind in their current search for a performance directory. The SFA will not limit themselves to looking in the football community. The search will extend to sports community, not only in Scotland but in other countries as well.

Regan declined to comment on whether Walter Smith is a potential candidate for the job.  Notably, by the end of the season, Walter Smith is stepping down as Glasgow Rangers Managers.

‘Commenting on individuals is incongruous,’ said Regan. ‘We would like to see the position filled in time for the start of the new season.’

Scottish Football Association struggles with referee crisis

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Scottish Football Association struggles with referee crisis The Scottish Football Association is in deep trouble dealing with the current referee’s crisis.  A call out to several other countries resulted in a response from Polish officials and the Scottish Football Association thought it had a match on, when it appears they did not.

The Polish referees who had agreed to participate in the Morton v Falkirk match backed out and now it is quite apparent that the whole Polish FA has backed out on their promise to help the Scottish Football Association by sending 12 match officials.

This has resulted in the cancellation of the 26 November Morton v Falkirk match and will result in further cancellations throughout the Scottish FA.

It looked like a situation where matches would be cancelled had been avoided when the Polish FA agreed to send officials, but the association reversed itself at the seeming last minute.  As of yet, no explanation for the reversal is clear, but the Scottish FA has had trouble enticing the aid of other countries since the problems with its own match officials began.

The threat of a similar strike action on the part of Welsh match officials was beaten down when the FAW sent emails that they said were letters of resignation and the referees were given the choice to agree to work matches or resign.  The threatened expulsion destroyed the unity of the protest and all hopes of strikes fell apart at that point.

Whatever the reason, it is clearly apparent that other countries want no part of the Scottish crisis, cancelled matches or no.