BILLY BREMNER MEMORIAL JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Date: 8th September 2017
NEWS RELEASE
NATIONAL FANS ORGANISATION BACKS SPFL CALLS FOR A REVIEW OF HISTORICAL GOVERNANCE ISSUES
• SCOTTISH FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR REVIEW OF SCOTTISH FOOTBALL GOVERNANCE
8th September 2017: Scotland’s largest, independent football supporters’ organisation, The Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA), has backed the call from the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) for a review into Scottish football governance.
Last month the Scottish Football Supporters Association (SFSA) conducted the first independent evaluation of Scottish football governance receiving 16324 responses. Academic researchers based in Germany with experience in undertaking similar research projects are currently evaluating the responses.
The SFSA launched this activity to assess, for the first time, the performance of the game’s governing bodies in Scotland. The research will become an annual benchmarking and reporting exercise looking at all aspects of the game. The first report will be made available in mid October.
In the meantime the recent press statements by the SPFL and the SFA have highlighted the need for radical reform of our game where both organisations, which are run by clubs, cannot agree on the need for independent review of historical governance issues.
The SFSA believes that it is essential to move forward to a position where transparency and good governance standards are met. To do this it is essential to have proper evaluation and scrutiny of the administration of our game to learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past.
Simon Barrow, Chairman of the SFSA said: “The Scottish game has had a governing body for 144 years and in that time its performance has never been publically evaluated. Unlike most industries there is no watchdog, no independent evaluation or review of performance on how the game is run. There are many issues within the game that fans have real concerns about but as it stands the governance rules within the game mean that no-one outside knows if a good job is being done by the SFA and the SPFL or not.
“We believe it is unhelpful for the SFA to try to avoid such scrutiny at this time. We also believe that this highlights the weaknesses in the Board Structures at Hampden Park that need addressed in the future. It is our view that is essential for the SFA to reverse its decision and to start to repair some of the significant damage done to its image and reputation by being open honest and transparent to all its stakeholders.”
The SFSA can be found on Twitter @scottishfsa and on Facebook.
Ends
For further information on The SFSA please contact Paul Goodwin on 07702-252519 or Simon Barrow on 07850-120413
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Scottish Football Supporters Association is an independent organisation founded in April 2015 to provide a platform for ordinary Scottish football fans to have a say in the running of the game in Scotland. To date it has almost 70,000 members from across the country.
It is a voluntary organisation funded by donations from fans and other interested parties who believe that it is essential that the interests of the key stakeholders are represented and that football clubs and the football authorities are held accountable to those stakeholders.
Posted in: Latest News
Tags: fans, governance, SFA, SFSA