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FA admits to mistake over Capello contract

Fabio Capello is in the spotlight over his contract © Getty Images

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The Football Association has admitted to a "corporate governance mistake" over Fabio Capello's contract, but general secretary Alex Horne has refused to name those involved in the decision other than former chairman Lord Triesman.

The FA came under fire following England's horror show at the World Cup for renegotiating a new contract with Capello, which removed the break clause, shortly before the finals. With widespread speculation leading up to the finals that Capello was being courted by a clutch of clubs, the FA took the decision to thrash out a new deal with the Italian. With England failing so miserably in South Africa, there were calls for Capello to be axed but such a decision would have cost the FA a huge amount.

Horne feels the decision was right to thrash out a new deal in light of England's impressive run in qualifying, but has admitted the decision did not go before the FA board. Triesman, who departed his role as FA chairman in 2010, has been named as the key figure in the negotiations but Horne refused to identify the other figures that gave the green light to handing Capello a new deal without approval from the FA board.

"There was a contract through to 2012 for four years," Horne, speaking at a Department of Culture Media and Sport committee inquiry into football governance, said of Capello's contract. "Within that contract was a clause allowing either party to terminate for an amount of liquidated damages.

"We were coming under a lot of pressure in the run up to the World Cup for certainty over whether Fabio was staying or not. There was speculation about clubs coming in for Fabio and it was agreed with a few individuals at the top of the organisation, the last chairman being at the heart of it, we would delete mutually those two clauses. In effect we would remove our ability to terminate Fabio's contract with liquidated damages and he would delete his ability to walk away from our contract with liquidated damages.

"Having qualified top of the group and facing that uncertainty it was exactly the right thing to do and that decision was made in April or May 2010.

"With hindsight it was a whole board decision and should have gone before the whole board but it did not. There will be a couple of board members and a couple of executive members who knew about it, but I do not know who exactly was involved in it. I am not comfortable sitting here and naming four or five people, as that is not fair on those individuals in that this has been reviewed and we have held our hands up to a corporate governance mistake."

Clearly suggesting the buck stopped with Triesman, Horne added: "David was the senior member involved as chairman of the association and clearly felt he had the authority to make that commitment. It was only after he left that the board questioned the decision."

Triesman's successor, David Bernstein, vowed the situation would never be allowed to arise again.

"While I'm chairman, it won't happen again," Bernstein told the same inquiry. "I would ensure that proper governance is in place for those things."

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