FAW Governance Latest
In January 2011, the FAW launched its Strategic Plan for football in Wales. Contained within the Plan was the strategic objective to “Align the Association to Modern Day Expectations.” A key step in achieving this objective was to “conduct a review of the constitution and governance of the FAW.”
In October 2012, the Council of the FAW authorised a review of football and its governance structures in Wales and empowered the President of the Association to form a Governance Panel to manage the review process. The Review covered all of football, from grassroots to international level and focused on the structures and procedures of the organisations involved with the game in Wales, including the FAW, the Welsh Football Trust (WFT) and the Area Associations.
The Review process involved conducting interviews, workshops and discussion groups with key stakeholders which was coordinated by the FAW Chief Executive and senior team members, with assistance from industry experts. A comparative and best practice analysis of other, similar organisations was also undertaken. This led to a detailed Review that culminated in a comprehensive document of over 100 pages detailing 88 recommendations. The final report was submitted to the FAW Council by the Review Panel in late August 2013.
These recommendations were discussed and voted upon during two Special Meetings of the Council of the FAW. The first meeting took place on the 11th of December, 2013 with the second taking place on the 7th of January, 2014.
The FAW Council approved over 70 of the recommendations in full or part. Among the key recommendations were:
· Structural changes to the decision-making bodies of the FAW – The FAW Council will remain as the Supreme Body of the organisation but with an elected Executive Committee to lead on all matters relating to policy, strategy and management of the business. The current Standing Committees will be replaced by three main Boards to manage all aspects of Football in Wales; the Community Game Board, dealing with grassroots and recreational football; the National Game Board, managing all aspects of domestic football; and the International Game Board, covering national teams and player pathways. A Scrutiny Committee will also be established to scrutinise the activities of all boards and committees.
· The FAW Council voted in favour of introducing an age limit for Council Members and Area Association Members - any new Member applying for election in 2016 or any subsequent mid-term election shall be under the age of 70. This shall be further reduced to 65 in 2020 and thereafter. In addition, at 80 years of age Life Members shall become non-voting Privileged Life Members. Furthermore, Council Members shall retire from their role at 80 years of age unless they are Life Members having served 21 years.
· It was agreed that a working group shall be formed with the objectives to professionalise the Area Associations, who shall work towards the achievement of the agreed objectives for football in Wales.
· It was agreed that changes would be made to improve and increase transparency within all levels of the structure e.g. minutes of meetings shall be published on the FAW website following their approval.
Importantly, this Review will act as a platform for devising and implementing a new strategic plan for Welsh football through until 2020 and the FAW will commit to undertaking an annual evaluation of its own performance – and the performance of its partner organisations – against agreed strategic objectives.
An action plan for the timely implementation of these recommendations will be devised. This action plan will be an agenda item at the next Council meeting in February 2014.
Commenting upon the Governance Review Trefor Lloyd Hughes (FAW President) stated ‘the FAW Council has completed a very diligent and detailed review with well-founded recommendations being agreed’
The FAW Chief Executive, Jonathan Ford, added ‘the FAW Governance Review has been the most comprehensive review of the constitution and governance for football in our long and proud history, representing a significant step forward for the governance of the game in Wales’
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