FA CEO

I was disappointed to hear the news that Ian Watmore has resigned as CEO of the FA. I had a coffee with him about 8 weeks or so ago, to talk about how the betting industry and the big sports could understand each other better. I found him pragmatic, receptive, and likeable. Admittedly, it helped that, as a mathematician and technologist, he understood Betfair immediately and saw through the arguments against us. That aside, though, in my view it says little for the structures of our sports that people are hired to do a defined job and feel that they can't because of the system. It's not an issue limited to football. Our sport is littered with organisations which seem to overlap just enough to make it impossible to get anything done. Sports politics is worse than the real thing. So, who to succeed him? Well I had thought until yesterday that Nic Coward must be dusting down his cv with a view to heading off to ITV to join up with Adam Crozier, but I would imagine that this latest news might make him think again. Whether anyone would relish the role now, though, after Watmore has made it so abundantly clear that you can't pursue the mandate you're given, is anyone's guess.