The FAI’s call for input on Governance closed earlier this week and we understand drew a sizable response.
All of the submissions will feed into the deliberations of the Governance Review Group established by Sport Ireland and the FAI last month.
Chairman Aidan Horan said on Monday that they were on schedule to produce an interim report by Friday, June 14th.
Sport for Business made a submission which we publish in full below. It is our belief that Governance is a simple matter of knowing the rules that are there for the greater good and applying them with common sense.
Governance is not a monster to fear but an opportunity to be embraced.
There are undoubted changes that need to be introduced not only at the FAI but across sport and with this in mind Sport for Business in partnership with 2Into3 and Mason, Hayes & Curran, are hosting a special morning debate on the subject on Friday, June 7th.
Places are filling quickly for the breakfast session which will include contributions from Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel, and Maura Quinn, CEO of the Institute of Directors.
Here is our contribution to the FAI Governance Review Group:
Submission on FAI Governance
Rob Hartnett, CEO Sport for Business
Introduction
Good governance is based on the adoption of a simple and well understood set of rules, and the management and monitoring of adherence to them while going about the business of the organization.
On that basis could there be an area of society than sport that is better set up to be champions of good governance?
Sport is played according to a defined set of rules which both teams know about in advance and the playing within of which is essential to the game starting and finishing.
And yet despite this commitment to and understanding of the rules, our position on governance is being seriously challenged.
The Rules
These can be divided into two sets, relating to different aspects of what we do and how we do it. .
The first relates to the running of the business behind the sport. We are no different to any company in having a product, an ambition to provide that product to an established or a growing audience, and a set of financial rules that we have to play by.
The rules are set out in legislation and come with levels of essential and best practice.
In terms of the essential we need directors who give guidance on how the business should be run but most importantly take responsibility for the financial management of the business and adherence to the rules laid down by legislation.
In terms of best practice those directors should have access to regular management accounts that show the financial health of the business on an ongoing basis and enable them to make decisions on funding or investment that will be for the good of the organisation.
They should also have regular reports from the Executives charged with running the organisation on a day to day basis.
The second set relates to those which we control from within. They are how we organise structures to manage leagues, how we impose rules and how we run the administration that relates directly to two teams kicking a ball.
The People
Those charged with the board level responsibility of Directors need to understand their obligations and the penalties for not adhering to them.
It is neither a grace and favour appointment, nor a way to reward good service in the past, any more than the selection of a team should be based on anything other than the overall skills needed to play to the best of the collective ability.
Much commentary has been expended on the need for the Board to be elected in July to represent the football family. To have representatives of coaches, players, fans and other groups.
Creating a collection of vested interests and giving them the responsibility to manage financial affairs, without specific skills relating to that management is not a good way to go.
The Board with overall responsibility needs to be filled with people who have experience and specific skills in relation to financial management.
They have responsibility for the first set of rules and structures.
Sport and Volunteerism
Nobody would seek or be sought to manage a business because they like the business or its products.
Sport though is built on the shoulders of volunteers who put time into their own team, then club, then administrative unit, then rising through the ranks.
Being from ‘within’ and understanding the nuances of the game does have value.
There should be a forum where the input of this dedicated volunteer force is recognised and heeded.
It may be that this is the existing FAI Council but with a clearly communicated means of becoming a member and strict term limits on how long to serve.
There needs to be an end product as well as an honour and if the council meets a specific number of times a a year, records should be kept of attendance and change made if members are unable to fulfill their obligation to represent a particular constituency.
This Council should be granted the same level of information in terms of Executive reports and financial accounts, albeit on a quarterly basis, as is the case for the board on a monthly one.
This would only be top line numbers and elements in order to preserve commercial sensitivity but the overall picture should be clear to all.
There should be the opportunity to question the Executive on areas of interest, though with questions submitted in advance to make the meetings more efficient and to have grouped discussion around particular areas. It should not become an opportunity to raise local issues that are dealt with at local or regional level.
This group should then report back down the line to individual regional units, clubs and members.
Communication
The FAI has developed FAI TV and a range of external communication channels that can be replicated for communication across the administration of the sport.
Having a separate online area where units and representatives can access up to date information is an important step forward in not only governing with a fair hand but also being seen to do so.
Concerns over how information might be used should be secondary to concerns that management is taking place behind closed doors.
Structure
UEFA has a detailed structure on how individual national associations can and should be governed.
There is no need for expensive consultancy reports on how the system can be created. Our structures here have plenty in common with those of similar size countries and the rule book on how we should be governed is already written.
We have an opportunity now with Noel Mooney, the principal author of that structural guide working with the FAI for six months through to November. We should grasp that opportunity as soon as possible so that a full plan of implementation can be in place within this calendar year.
Relationship with Government and Sport Ireland
These are vital relationships without which many of the ambitions and programmes of the FAI could not be delivered.
The close working relationship between state agencies, Dublin City Council and the FAI is essential to the delivery of football at every level from schoolboy leagues to Euro 2020.
It is important though that the relationship is one of equals rather than Master and Servant.
The FAI owes equal if not greater responsibility to UEFA and FIFA as it does to Government and the rules on state interference, written with good reason to counter interference in other parts of the world, cannot be ignored when it suits because we are a Western European democracy.
Whatever rules are laid down by society, by Government and by Sport Ireland need to be adhered to but in the context of their being just one stakeholder in the sport, even if a very important one.
Sporting Basics in Governance Context
Governance can be a shadowy concept, with connotations of being there just to catch people out.
In sport we should understand better that this is not the case. We live by rules from the number of players to the size of the goals and the application of the offside rule.
We also understand the tactics of how to set ourselves up in order to be winners, but also to play the game well.
We know that 10 forwards or ten defenders does not make a winning team.
We need quickly to accept that this applies to how we perform off the pitch as well as on it.
The rules of play are already established in legislation and common sense.
How we build the right structure is laid down and easily accessible by our own government in terms of financial matters and UEFA in terms of building the right framework for the sport at every level.
This is an opportunity to get it right, to make the FAI a Champion regardless of the score of a single game.
We cannot afford to let it pass.
Rob Hartnett,
Founder Sport for Business
May 2019
About Sport for Business
Sport for Business came to life in 2012 and is a publishing, networking and events body serving a membership drawn from Sporting organisations in Ireland and further afield, state agencies including Government Departments and Local Authorities, Businesses with an interest in sponsorship or the lessons that can link sport with their audience, Education Institutions and Media.
The FAI, Three, Aviva, The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Sport Ireland and over 200 other major organisations are members of our Sport for Business community.
www.sportsforbusiness2.ab6z.com
