Exclusive – Bernstein vows to rebuild bridges with FIFA
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeDavid Bernstein has vowed to rebuild bridges with FIFA once he takes up his role as the chairman of the Football Association.
Bernstein will officially take over in February if, as expected, his appointment is ratified by the FA Council on January 25th.
And Bernstein admits one of his main tasks will be to mend relations with football’s world governing body after the bitter fallout from England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid.
“There’s a lot to be done,” the former Manchester City chairman told talkSPORT. “I think the first thing to be done is to rebuild bridges.
“These relationships are very, very important. There’s no point going in a corner and sulking - we have to move on. So, although it won’t be the very first thing on my agenda, certainly talking to FIFA and UEFA and so on and moving things forward with them is very important.”
Bernstein beat off competition from the likes of former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein to land the job, and the 67-year-old admits he has a tough task to turn the FA’s image around.
“However, there’s been issues at the very visible end of the FA with the World Cup and the World Cup bid and a lot of changes of chairman and chief executive and so on which has caused perception problems.
“I think it's a number of these big issues that i will need to be involved in to try and ensure that the great work done by large parts of the FA is properly recognised.
"One of the advantages of having this period between now and February is that I intend to speak to a lot of people both inside football and connected with football.
"There’s a lot of important issues clearly facing English football and I’m going to have to be involved in a wide range of things."
Bernstein will officially take over in February if, as expected, his appointment is ratified by the FA Council on January 25th.
And Bernstein admits one of his main tasks will be to mend relations with football’s world governing body after the bitter fallout from England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid.
“There’s a lot to be done,” the former Manchester City chairman told talkSPORT. “I think the first thing to be done is to rebuild bridges.
“These relationships are very, very important. There’s no point going in a corner and sulking - we have to move on. So, although it won’t be the very first thing on my agenda, certainly talking to FIFA and UEFA and so on and moving things forward with them is very important.”
Bernstein beat off competition from the likes of former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein to land the job, and the 67-year-old admits he has a tough task to turn the FA’s image around.
“There’s no point going in a corner and sulking - we have to move on”David Bernstein
“The FA is a fantastic body and there is a huge amount of work done by the FA across all manner of fields which is really very, very commendable,” added Bernstein.“However, there’s been issues at the very visible end of the FA with the World Cup and the World Cup bid and a lot of changes of chairman and chief executive and so on which has caused perception problems.
“I think it's a number of these big issues that i will need to be involved in to try and ensure that the great work done by large parts of the FA is properly recognised.
"One of the advantages of having this period between now and February is that I intend to speak to a lot of people both inside football and connected with football.
"There’s a lot of important issues clearly facing English football and I’m going to have to be involved in a wide range of things."
