Re: Ian Gilmour's Task Force letter: (See Cunningham appointment)
Whilst I support the SOS and others' concerns (Cunningham is wholly
unacceptable), there is a slight innacuracy in the letter in that it
suggests that Cunningham will only be appointed if the Govt accept the
Majority report. This is not the case - they look like appointing Dr Jack
as the head of the new unit (Independent Football Commission, I think)
regardless of whether it's the majority version or the minority one (the
powerful Football Audit Commission in the Majority; and tokenistic Independent
Scrutiny panel in the Minority)
In fact, they are almost certainly not going to approve the majority report
as
- the FA, PL etc won't accept it and
- they won't legislate and therefore have to reach an accommodation (capitulate) with the FA.
One other point: in BOTH minority and majority reports, the new unit calls
for appointments to be made openly, publicly and transparently. This means
establishing what the remit of the unit is; outlining a job description for
the chair and the panel; and inviting applications from candidates. Some
back door agreement arrived at behind the scenes between No 10 (they want
to give the poor lad something to do) and the FA is not what EITHER side
calls for, which makes it extraordinary that the Government should pursue this
strategy (suggestion: accusations of 'cronyism'/appointing mates would be
particularly damaging to them).
But get writing and maybe copy to No 10
That's all
Adam Brown
