Palios set to fight more battles
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United may feel that Mark Palios, the new chief executive of the FA, has used the Rio Ferdinand affair to flex his muscles but, in truth, the governing body must regret Ferdinand's failure to provide a test as much as the player or his club.
The issue has set Palios against the most powerful club in the country, the England manager, a key England defender and the rest of the national squad, the Professional Footballers' Association, Fifa, the world governing body, and the World Anti-Doping Agency. This is an intimidating list and it is no surprise Palios' own future has been cast into doubt especially as there is no verdict that could satisfy most, let alone all of them.
As it is, Fifa and Wada should be off his back, though Sepp Blatter, of the former, will not miss a chance to criticise the FA, and Dick Pound, of the latter, has already expressed his mystification that Ferdinand continues to play.
While the verdict is said to be an independent one, which it may be - many in the FA expected a lighter sentence - Palios will be regarded as its architect by United, the PFA and the England team. United can be expected to start using their influence in the corridors of power to unseat Palios, if they have not done so already. The PFA, though they emerge with little credit, will be truculent. As for the England team, do not expect to see Palios hanging around them as his predecessor, Adam Crozier, did.
Apart from minding his back, Palios' next task is to ensure the success of the review of disciplinary procedures he has already put in place under the auspices of Brendon Batson, the former West Brom defender and PFA official. This will recommend speeding up the process, but their meek and cautious legal department is likely to advise the FA against acting with the haste that Fifa wish and Uefa practice.
One aspect which will be tightened is the regulations relating to doping offences. Anyone failing or refusing a drugs test in future can expect to be suspended immediately.
The FA has undergone too much recent change to benefit from further instability so it is to be hoped Palios survives. He came to the post with much to recommend him and a fund of goodwill within the game. The latter may be gone but the qualifications remain.
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