What can be done about the mess of football governance?

So many authorities, so many agendas. Football today is at the whim of so many different authoritative bodies that the work they do is arguably conflicting. Just take England for example. The top clubs have to deal with rules from the Premier League, the FA, UEFA and FIFA. It isn’t possible for clubs to adhere with full effect to all of the agendas set out in front of them. Furthermore the actions of some undermine the proposals of others. How can UEFA expect the European clubs to take them seriously on the implication of the financial fair play rules when there are never ending exposures of widespread corruption within FIFA? It may not be UEFA’s fault but ultimately if the top governing football body does not set an example how are people supposed to learn. FIFA has its own agenda, mainly the spread of football to nations that do not currently participate to any high level. However this goes against the idea of a meritocracy that UEFA is trying to introduce. FIFA giving the World Cup to Qatar is like saying that this year’s Champions League Final should be played in someone’s back garden in Luxembourg. The agendas don’t match. But what are we going to do about it?

What this really comes down to is an argument that has plagued politics for years: central vs. local government. Which is the more effective way to govern?

Centralised Government

So what are the benefits of organizing sport through a more centralised system? Firstly: clearer objectives. Not only that but a clearer prioritisation of objectives that clubs and countries must adhere to. Centralised government provides, in theory, better organisation by using the top minds to set out plans for the whole of football instead of letting lesser minds at lower levels determine how things are run.

If we put this in football terms it would be similar to taking away the powers of the FA and having a FIFA committee determining what the FA should be doing each year. The benefit of this is that, in theory, with more people to choose from FIFA should have more competent people working for it who have better strategies at hand. Certainly the FA is not the best-run organisation in the world and at times it definitely seems as though it could do with some help. Moreover, if the FA is not directly accountable to FIFA or UEFA then the rules they could be imposing might contradict measures imposed by other bodies. Also, with one higher organisation dictating the agenda for our country there wouldn’t be conflict between the FA and the Premier League.