The Football Association’s chairman, David Triesman, yesterday set himself on collision course with the Premier League by opposing plans to take fixtures overseas.
In a announcement delivered after an FA board meeting, Lord Triesman announced that his organisation had all but rejected the international-round proposal.
“At the moment we have not seen a sustainable plan to which we can agree,” he said.
“If the Premier League has things it wants to say about changes or new variants, well then they will come forward. But personally I would prefer it happened sooner rather than later because I don’t want this to drift on, particularly as we are to launch our World Cup bid. In general I think uncertainty is not very helpful if it goes on for any length of time.”
Triesman will accompany Premier League’s chief executive Richard Scudamore to Fifa’s HQ next Tuesday, and a spokesman for the Premier League suggested that Triesman had only alluded to issues they themselves had already raised.
“We are pleased that the FA shares our opinion that the [proposal] merits full consideration and consultation,” said a league statement.
“The issues raised – sanction, fixture calendar, sporting criteria and stakeholder consultation – remain the ones we identified, with our member clubs, as being critical to progress.”
Scudamore now has just a few days to provide a compelling argument for FIFA rather than the hoped-for 12 months.
“The initial reaction from the governing bodies poses the league a bigger challenge than two weeks ago,” said Chelsea’s Peter Kenyon. “The logical conclusion might be after that meeting next week with Blatter. That’s the reality of it. It’s not about waiting 12 months.”
