Greg Clarke
Greg Clarke in January 2018
Vice President of FIFA
In office
7 February 2019 – 12 November 2020
PresidentGianni Infantino
Chairman of the FA
In office
4 September 2016 – 10 November 2020
Preceded byGreg Dyke
Personal details
Born (1957-10-27) 27 October 1957
Leicester, England
OccupationExecutive

Gregory Allison Clarke (born 27 October 1957)[1] is an English businessman and football administrator, who was chairman of The Football Association from 4 September 2016. He resigned on 10 November 2020 after making offensive comments while talking to MPs.[2][3] He was elected as the Vice President of FIFA on 7 February 2019[4] and resigned from this role on 12 November.[5]

Business career

Clarke was born in Leicester, England. He was educated at Gateway Grammar School in Leicester.

He is currently chairman of a number of private equity-owned businesses, including Eteach UK Ltd.[6]

From 1994 to 2000, Clarke worked in businesses in the Cable & Wireless Communications group, eventually serving as CEO up to 2000. From 2002 to 2009, he was CEO of Lend Lease Corporation, an ASX 50 company headquartered in Australia.[7] After Lend Lease, he was briefly CEO of O3b Networks, a Google-backed satellite broadband company.[8] He has also served on the boards of BUPA in the UK and MTN in South Africa.

Football administration

Clarke was chairman and a director (1999–2002)[9] of Leicester City.[10] He was chairman of The Football League from March 2010[8] to June 2016.[11]

Nominated by the FA board in July 2016, Clarke assumed the role of chairman of the FA on 4 September 2016.[11] On 7 February 2019, Clarke was elected as a FIFA Vice President for the UEFA region at the 43rd UEFA Congress in Rome.[4][12]

While FA chairman, Clarke had to lead the organisation's response to allegations of historical sexual abuse in football, and of racism and bullying in relation to the Mark Sampson and Eniola Aluko cases.[13] In October 2017, Clarke announced a "fundamental" review of the FA after admitting it had "lost the trust of the public" following the Mark Sampson scandal.[14]

Public comments

In the same month, Clarke was criticised by sexual abuse victim Andy Woodward for 'humiliating' remarks Clarke made to a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing,[15][16] while the Professional Footballers' Association's chief executive Gordon Taylor said the PFA might sue Clarke over suggestions Taylor had not supported Woodward with further counselling.[17]

On 10 November 2020, Clarke resigned with immediate effect as the Football Association chairman following a meeting with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in which he referred to BAME footballers as "coloured people",[18] said a gay footballer's decision on whether to come out was a "life choice", that "young female players did not like having the ball hit hard at them" and suggested that "different career interests" led South Asian people to choose careers in IT over sport.[19] Clarke was talking about the racist abuse of players by trolls to the DCMS select committee via video link when making these comments.[2] He resigned as FIFA Vice President on 12 November, again with immediate effect.[5]

Three years before, in front of the same parliamentary committee, Clarke said the issue of institutional racism in football was "fluff".[20] He had to apologise after being chastised by MPs and reminded that language matters and led to the FA being described as "shambolic" by a previous parliamentary enquiry.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Greg Clarke". UEFA.com. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Clarke resigns as FA chairman". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Greg Clarke: Why FA chairman's comments are so offensive". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 Slater, Matt (7 February 2019). "FA chairman Greg Clarke lands £190,000-per-year role as Fifa vice-president". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Greg Clarke resigns from FIFA vice-president role in wake of resignation as FA chairman". Sky News. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Eteach UK Ltd - people". Companies House. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Our People: Board of Directors". Redefine International. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Football League appoints Greg Clarke as new chairman". The Guardian. Press Association. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Leicester City PLC - people". Companies House. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  10. ↑ "Man at the top - the Leicester City fan who got his dream job as chairman of the Football League". Leicestermercury.co.uk. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  11. 1 2 Fifield, Dominic (24 August 2016). "Greg Clarke ratified as FA chairman in succession to Greg Dyke". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "Our Chairman Greg Clarke has been elected as a new FIFA Vice-President". The Football Association. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Daniel (16 October 2017). "Revealed: the 14-word email that puts FA's Greg Clarke under fresh scrutiny". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Rumsby, Ben (26 October 2017). "Greg Clarke admits out-of-touch FA has 'lost the trust of the public'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Rumbsy, Ben (25 October 2017). "Greg Clarke under fire again as abuse survivor Andy Woodward accuses FA chairman of 'humiliating' him". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "Woodward 'devastated & deeply upset'". BBC Sport. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  17. ↑ Kelner, Martha (26 October 2017). "PFA's Gordon Taylor considering legal action against FA chairman Greg Clarke". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  18. ↑ de Menezes, Jack (10 November 2020). "Greg Clarke resigns as FA chairman after 'coloured people' comments". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  19. ↑ MacInnes, Paul (10 November 2020). "FA chairman Greg Clarke resigns after 'unacceptable' comments". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "FA has lost trust of public - chairman". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  21. ↑ "Minister criticises FA over 'sorry saga'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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