Burns turns heat up in FA inquiry

If the FA goes ahead with his recommendations, the scandal will end up playing a much more significant role in the history of the FA than a few week's newspaper stories about the sex lives of men in suits - or track suits - at Soho Square should.

Burns gained a reputation at Westminster for dealing with complex and politically-sensitive problems when he worked for the Treasury.

He has looked at the FA and seen a structure that is well past its sell-by date and needs drastic change.

He said: "The Board more closely resembles a forum for the dissemination of information and briefing material than a body concerned with the making of the decisions that will shape the long-term development of the English game and the efficient handling of the difficult judgements to be made.

"I am clear that the present structures of The FA are in need of substantial reform. The lack of clarity of responsibility, the difficulty in reaching decisions, and the substantial frustration and tension that exists as a consequence, together undermine the authority and effectiveness of the organisation."

Burns proposes that the FA should be run by a Board similar in constitution to those which run businesses and international sporting bodies - instead of spreading responsibilities across the FA council and other committees.

The new Board should take overall and collective responsibility for supervising and directing the strategy and performance of the FA.

More importantly - in order to stop battles between the amateur and professional sides of the game, it should contain executive directors and independent non-executive directors.

Burns wrote: "The essence of being independent is that such directors do not face conflicts of interest, unlike other members of the Board, whether they be executive, from the national game, or from the professional game.

"The case for having them is that they can bring the ability to analyse and judge finely-balanced issues more objectively and offer relevant experience from other walks of life."

There have been many calls for an independent regulator of the FA in the last year. Burns's ideas about setting up a semi-autonomous unit to police the game and hand out disciplinary sentences may provide the halfway house which is acceptable to the governing body.

He also wants better representation of the whole of English society on the body's Council, which he calls "the Parliament".

He said: "Some leagues and groups are not represented directly or are under-represented; players, referees, managers, coaches and supporters are either not represented at all or are only represented indirectly. The same goes for women, ethnic, and disabled groups."